


Another World

by Rioghna



Series: In another world [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Stargate Universe
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Romance, Sexual Content, Sharing a Body, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-01-10 20:43:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 78
Words: 160,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Direct Sequel to 'Sometimes he dreams...' really should be read first.  What happens when Rumplestiltskin wakes up?<br/>All the thanks in the world to EmilieBrown who has done the wonderful new banner art for this story.  </p><p>Now I am on Tumblr at Rioghna7</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Waking

Rumplestiltskin was confused and not a little disoriented but that was something to deal with later. Right now, even though it was hard to sort out exactly where 'here' was, the first thing they needed to do was get out of this room and make plans.

"Rum...Richard?" Belle stopped, confused as she threw herself at the oddly dressed version of her True Love, fumbling for his cursed name in the face of all these strangers. Two armed men moved to stop her but they weren't fast enough and he caught her, reminding himself no matter how much it hurt that he couldn't do what he wanted, which was crush her into his arms and growl at anyone threatening her.

"I think not, Dearie," he said, trying to remember how Dr. Rush talked from the confusing images in his head, and hoping she understood. "Later," he whispered quietly in her ear as he moved her carefully to arms length before allowing (reluctantly, oh, so very reluctantly) the armed men to move her onto her own two feet and away from him. They were looking at him confused, and he cursed. Apparently he was acting out of character, but that could be sorted, after he found a way to protect Belle. It felt like he was letting her down again, but she met his eyes and nodded once.

"Oh, of course, you couldn't be. I..." she looked flustered. "I thought you were someone else."

"Clearly. Dr. Nicholas Rush," he introduced himself, barely resisting the familiar (to her) flourish. The words felt foreign on his tongue and his body was stiff and clumsy, like an ill fitted suit. After living for so long with a leg twisted and poorly healed, two working legs made balance an awkward task. But before she could answer, two more people entered the room. One, who his memory identified as TJ and the medic, went straight for Belle and it took an effort not to get between them. Besides, she meant no harm. The other person, however...

"So what is going on here?" Young shouted. "Rush, explain." Rumplestiltskin shivered in his unfamiliar skin and resisted the impulse to reach for his magic and turn the man into...well, something. But for right now that wasn't an option, or one that he was willing to rely on anyway. Right now, he needed to get Belle alone and figure out exactly what happened. At least she had her memories, he wasn't sure he could go through that nightmare again.

"That's what I am trying to find out," he snapped back at the larger man. Something about him reminded him of every King, General and Military commander he had ever known and despised in his frighteningly long life. Well, except Charming, and he had his moments too. "I need to question B...this woman, and..."

"First she is going to the infirmary," TJ informed him. "We need to know where she came from and how she got to the planet, not to mention whether or not she is carrying any foreign pathogens."

"I'll go with you," he said, earning him a strange look from the rest of the crew. "What? At the very least, I look familiar to her, perhaps she would feel more comfortable with me present." He looked at one of the men, younger than the rest, with the look that spoke of something other than the military. Eli, his memory supplied the name, smarter than the rest for the most part, annoying but capable. "You, Eli, get down to... the console room and start analyzing the data. I'll handle this," he barked the order. For some reason that seemed to relax people, as if he at least sounded like the Dr. Rush they were familiar with. Good. Right now they needed time and time meant acting the way they expected him to. Belle had said nothing more, merely standing looking back and forth between the people around her, making notes and observations for later use, just as he was. That was his girl.

"Rush, I need answers, not you gallivanting off with some alien..." He turned on the man. A quick troll through his memories told him Rush didn't like him, and trusted him somewhat less after an incident that he needed to explore more throughly later. Most certainly he was just waiting for his chance.

"And have have several hundred things which need my immediate attention as well, including but not limited to finding out more about the world you just gated back from, analyzing the data, making sure that nothing life threatening falls apart and finding out what B... that girl was doing out here. Then, when I've finished all of that, I'd like just a few moments to tend to some other personal matters, if you don't mind too terribly?" He stopped. His voice had been going up dramatically and he'd advanced on the larger man, slowly driving him back a step with nothing but the force of his anger. Now he just wanted rid of the commander so he could tend to important things, like Belle. Like getting Belle back to his quarters and reminding her and himself exactly how much he loved her. And a shave, he needed a shave. While his wife had never seemed to mind when he had scales, she was not a fan of stubble, nor to be honest was he.

Looking down for the first time he took in his appearance with a twisted smirk of disgust. The body was familiar, the usual bits minus a few scars and his twisted leg, now straight. He was no more lovely than he ever had been, but as long as Belle would still have him, that mattered not at all. But the clothes, what was he wearing? He looked and felt like he'd slept in them, possibly had been sleeping in them for some time, and that would never do. He'd not done that in, well suffice it to say long before the crew of this ship had been born, possibly longer than their entire lives put together. Jeans? He had never worn blue jeans in his life, nor any of these other...things. The waistcoat was nice, familiar, if not particularly attractive, but the rest, this would never do.

"You...you do that, just..." Young said. The man seemed disturbed and Rumplestiltskin cackled, internally. Men like Young were unaccustomed to being intimidated, certainly not by a man who he perceived as smaller and therefor weaker than him. That it was also not his usual reaction to Nicholas Rush was confusing him even more.

"Good, I'm glad we're in agreement then," he growled with a twist of lips that could only be considered friendly to those who knew nothing about human expression. He waved to TJ to accompany them and offered a hand to Belle, who reached to take it, as always, but for TJ, who warned them apart much to his annoyance. Greer followed, apparently guarding Belle, though what he thought the tiny woman beside him would do, he didn't know. Not that she was harmless, he had taught her a few things over time, as had Emma when they got time after her little set to with Hook. Actually she had not done badly on her own, but she had always been a resourceful one.

The walk to the infirmary took only a few moments, but it seemed longer. Belle was near him, trying not to look at him. Rumplestiltskin was trying, for his part to figure out how to help her through the debrief that would follow. He at least had some knowledge though it was complicated. He could feel a headache starting, and part of his memory told him that it was lack of sleep, and lack of food, in addition to the pressure of having the memories of two separate people (three if you counted his cursed memories) occupying one, unfortunately at this moment, very human body. He wondered briefly if it could hold together until he could find a way to get the two of them out of here, and him back into his own body.

"Ok, lets get this started," the medic said as she guided her over to one of the exam beds. "I'm TJ, by the way. What's your name?" she asked in her most calming professional manner.

"I'm Belle, Belle...Gold," she said a little uncertainly. Oh, it was her name, at least the one that existed on her important papers in this world, like her marriage license. But hearing her say it sent a rush through him as it always did. "Where am I?"

"You are aboard our ship, it's called 'Destiny'," Rumplestiltskin answered her.

"How many more are there down on the planet?" TJ asked, as she started the physical, questions to keep her calm and focused.

"How many more what?" Belle asked.

"People, aliens, whatever you are?" Greer supplied with a grunt. The man was no longer pointing a gun at Belle, but Rumplestiltskin wasn't any more comfortable with him near her.

"None, not that I know of. Only me, and I'm not an alien, at least, I don't think I am. But that depends on where you all come from I suppose."

"Where are the others? Surely you can't be the only person, did something happen, plague, natural disaster?" TJ asked, looking at her in surprise.

"I don't know." Before she could say more, there was a beep and the computer screen started to move, scrolling through a list of statistics.

"Ok, this is weird, even for here," TJ said. "She's human, and I don't mean like some of the aliens we have seen that are from human stock. I mean..."

"Well, of course I'm human," Belle said, irritated. "I'm from Maine." Greer and TJ looked at her in shock, which Rumplestiltskin tried to mimic. Relaxing and letting the body's natural movement patterns take over wasn't easy.

"I don't know, you don't sound like anyone I've ever met from Maine," Greer said dubiously, but then it was his job to be suspicious, so it was almost easy to resist the desire to rip his tongue out for insulting his wife, almost. "And how'd you get down there."

"Which question should I answer first?" she asked, not one to be intimidated. "I don't know how I got where you found me, I don't even know where 'here' is. I was with my husband, in the forest near our house...and then there was a flash and..." She paused, and covered her face. He knew what she was going through, the memories of what had happened right before...well right before they ended up here. "Do you know where he is? Where is my husband?" she asked, as if she was about to break down. It took everything, even knowing that she was acting exactly as they expected her and it wasn't real, not to throw himself at her, and hold her.

Soon, he reminded himself. He wasn't exactly sure how he would accomplish it, but he would, he promised.

"That I can't tell you, I'm sorry," TJ said.

"So, about Maine," Greer prompted. The man was a paranoid, but as much as Rumplestiltskin wanted to hit him, this was good, allowing Belle to work her story out before the debriefing, which was going to be much more difficult. He knew that Young was going to be there, and it was going to take a lot of his strength just to prevent himself from strangling the man.

"Storybrooke, it's in the upper part of the state, an hour or so from Portland," she said not completely sure what to say. "I sometimes forget...I'm originally from Sydney, that's in Australia," she said helpfully as if Greer was a particularly dimwitted child. "But we moved when I was a small child. I'm so accustomed to it, Storybrooke is a small town, the 'everyone knows everyone' sort. No one has actually mentioned my accent in so long, I...I forgot."

He tried for a smile, hoping it looked right. Hard to tell when your body isn't your own, even if...well, it was awfully close, perhaps he could keep it. It was a little lighter, but had two working legs, and what did Rush have to go back to that could compare to Belle? But those were thoughts for later.

"Let's get some of the more pertinent questions out of the way, if you don't mind?" TJ said turning to glare at the two men. "Age?"

"Thirty one," Belle responded. At least this part was easy enough. They had been through all of that filling out their 'official' papers after Storybrooke stopped being cut off from the world. For a brief moment, Rumplestiltskin allowed his thoughts to drift back and worry about what was going on there. Bae would be all right, he was an adult, and he had Emma, they would take care of Henry. Regina could probably handle at least some of the magical mishaps. He tried to tell himself that he was unconcerned, but he failed at that regularly.

"Okay, time for you two to leave the room,"TJ said briskly. While he had been distracted, she had apparently finished taking her medical history. "I am going to get you some clean clothes and let you get washed up before we take you down for debriefing."

"I can't leave you with an unknown alien," Greer said just as Rumplestiltskin was starting to say something. Certainly he wasn't going to leave the man to gawk while his wife changed!

"Does she look like a threat?" TJ said with a certain amount of frustration.

"Do they ever?"

"Dr...Rush?" Belle said, looking to him for reassurance. At least she remembered the right name. He was thinking frantically, not wanting to leave, not even willing to consider allowing Greer to stay. TJ and Greer both looked from him to her and they were really going to have to figure something out before this started looking really suspicious.

"Perhaps if we stay on this side of the screen?" He suggested. "Surely you can managed to get around or through it fast enough to subdue this little slip of a girl?" Greer grimaced at his mocking tone, but nodded reluctantly. TJ moved the screen in place, though they could hear every word from the other side. He could picture exactly what was happening. He knew Belle's body as well as he knew his own, probably better than he knew this one.

TJ came out from behind the screen, got some spare fatigues from a cupboard and returned. "These might be a little too big, but it'll have to do for now," she told her. He knew that his little love was going to swim in the clothes, but there was nothing for it. Instead he concentrated on watching the man next to him and trying not to worry about Belle. "Oh, what is that?" TJ continued to converse with the woman on the other side of the screen. "It's lovely."

"My locket?" he heard Belle say. For a moment he wondered if he should interrupt, stop this. He knew exactly what was in the locket, he should, he'd put it together. On the other hand, it would make things somewhat clearer, at least to them. It was a simple explanation that would satisfy their needs for such things. "It's got a picture from my wedding," she said softly, and he tried to listen for the sound of the catch. He didn't need any help to know exactly when it was open.

"OH MY GOD," TJ exclaimed, and Greer started to move as Rush's hand came down on his arm to stop him. He didn't care how weird it looked, that man was not getting anywhere near his wife, certainly not in a state of undress. "You guys have got to see this."

"What is it?" Greer said urgently, pulling away from Rush with a look of disgust.

"Mrs. Gold...Belle, can I..."she asked.

"You will bring it straight back?" Belle said. Clearly she had thought along the same lines as he had, of course that wasn't uncommon.

TJ agreed and then made her way around the screen, locket in hand and opened. She shoved it at Rush and Greer. "Look at that," she said.

"Wow," Greer said with his usual eloquence. Rumplestiltskin looked at it, pulling Rush's glasses out of his pocket though he didn't actually need them, and studied the picture.

"Hmmm, suppose there is some resemblance."

"Resemblance? He could be your brother, obviously got all the style sense," Greer said with a laugh.

"Could be related, for all I know. I've not really had contact with my mum's family, we weren't close." That jibbed enough with his memories from Rush, without saying more about his past, which apparently he wasn't in the habit of doing. The good doctor was a private person, which certainly served his purposes.

"That's why she thought she knew you," TJ said, realisation dawning.

"Probably," he said, as if it was of no importance to him, though seeing the two of them, on that day, they had been so very happy. His Belle looked beautiful in her blue gown, having forgone the traditions of this world to wear white for a weddings and gone back to their own. He couldn't help but smile.

"It was," Belle said as she emerged from behind the screen. As he predicted, she was swimming in the fatigues. Even with the adjustment points, their small meant one size fit someone else, but as all they had was a random crate that had somehow come through the gate during the madness was the evacuation, having something was a bit of a miracle. "You sound like him as well," she said as she reached for the locket and he returned it to her, closing his hand briefly over hers in reassurance. She put it back around her neck with a smile.

"Scot?" he asked.

"Yes, but like me, more or less, he left a long time ago. Right now I just want to know he's all right."

"I'm afraid that might be difficult, but we will see what we can do. Contact with Earth isn't particularly easy. I assume she is healthy?" The question was directed toward the medic.

"She's a little dehydrated, a little undernourished, nothing life threatening. She needs food and water, and I'm going to give her a vitamin shot. Beyond that she's ready to go."

"Then get on with it. The sooner we get this meeting over, the sooner we can all get back to work," he growled, in what was apparently a familiar fashion. At least they reacted as if it was. Keeping track was making his headache worse, but there was nothing he could do for it. He was afraid to try to reach out and see if magic would work here, not when he didn't know what the visible signs would be. Instead, he stood by feigning impatience while the medic gave Belle a shot, gave her orders to drink as much as she could, and handed her a ration bar to eat until they were finished and could take her to the mess hall. Privately, he thought considering what the other passenger in his head was telling him about the food, she was better putting it off as long as possible. It was most certainly likely to compare and not favourably with the hospital where she had been a prisoner during the curse. The last thing his lady love needed right now was anything that brought back her nightmares.


	2. Debriefing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Belle is questioned and doesn't take it at ll well.

Belle was in turmoil as they walked down another metal corridor, at least she thought it was another one. It could have been the same one for all she knew. The large man with the gun and the threatening manner was still with her, though the medic, TJ had stayed behind saying she was not needed. Rumplestiltskin was still with her, though. At least she thought it was him. She couldn't forget the 'dearie' when they had met in the other room, where they had come up from the planet through some sort of magic doorway, not dissimilar to a mirror, maybe similar to the way Rumplestiltskin always talked about the danger of mirrors. She just never thought to find it in the world without magic. She was fairly certain that was where she was at least. But how had she ended up here, how had Rumplestiltskin ended up here, and why did everyone think he was someone else?

And who was Dr. Nicholas Rush? Certainly everyone recognised him under that name. So either he was somehow sharing the body of someone who looked and sounded like her love, a man who had been on this ship before they had ever gotten here, or somehow like with the curse, history around them rewrote itself to admit him. Though if it was the second, how was he walking? The magic to permanently heal his leg had thus far proved more than he could manage and he rarely wasted energy on it having lived with it as it was for so long.

Worrying about all that would have to wait though. They were walking towards a room for what they had said was a debriefing, which she assumed meant a lot of questions. So far she had stuck to her cursed persona story. Apparently they were in the same world, these people were humans, from Earth, which meant sticking to things that they could potentially check up on. At least that would mean that perhaps it would be possible to get a message back to Storybrooke, let them know that they were...all right? At least she hoped they were. If Rumplestiltskin was somehow sharing a body with this Nicholas Rush person, she hoped that there was a way to get them separated. Also she hoped that if that was the case his real body was still somewhere, even if that meant it was back home under the care of Dr. Frankenstein.

They paused at a metal door, and Rumplestiltskin did something she didn't quite see to open it. Inside was the big man she had met earlier, the one that yelled a lot. She had taken a rather instant dislike to the man. He reminded her a little bit of various of advisors ofher fathers and her former fiancé, who she had left behind for the safety of her people, never looking back. There were a couple other people in there, one she hadn't met before and two who had been with the party that found her, but she barely noticed them as Rumplestiltskin waved her into a chair. Rush, she needed to remember to call him Rush, well at least it was close enough for a misstep to be easily corrected. She smiled at him and sat down.

The debriefing started normally enough, or so it felt to Rush in the back of his mind. General reports on what had been found on the planet, what supplies they had acquired. Mostly he turned it out. The headache had gotten worse, and he really wanted to get through this so he could be alone with Belle. He hadn't figured exactly how he was going to accomplish that, though he thought he would volunteer to find her quarters. There were plenty of empty rooms near his own, his alter ego told him, preferring to live in a less traveled corridor. He was actually wondering a little bit about the helpful suggestion from the other person in his head, but it wasn't something he could think about right now.

"Now, Miss...Gold," Young said, addressing Belle directly for the first time.

"Mrs. Gold," she corrected him. "But most people just call me Belle."

"Very well, Belle, thirty one year old female, from a small town in Maine. Storybrooke, never heard of it," he said.

"Not surprising, it's a very small town," she replied politely.

"Near to Bangor?" he asked.

"Near enough, I suppose. I never go that far inland, really," she said. His eyes were on the screen in front of him.

"Well, physically you are in good shape, according to TJ, a little dehydration, a little malnutrition. Planet was warm enough, I suppose, no signs of exposure."

"I had a warm coat, it must have been left behind when they found me," she said. "It's still winter at home, or I think...it was?"

"How long were you there?" Rush asked. Young looked at him as if trying to figure out what was going on with him. Not that he had ever had an idea about that.

"I'm not sure, maybe a week? I was a little disoriented at first. I might still be for all I know. I keep hoping I will wake up and this will all be a dream. At first I thought I had fallen or something. We were walking in the forest, behind our house. We like to walk, well, I like to walk, and my husband indulges me because I worry about his health." she told them, but her eyes lingered on his a moment longer.

"What do you remember?" he asked, as gentle as anyone could remember Rush ever being.

"We'll get to that. I'm asking the questions for now, Dr. Rush," Young said sharply, interrupting them to assert his authority

"By all means, continue," Rush said sarcastically. "But get to the point, we all have work to do."

"Ok, so you are from a small town in Maine. You know we can check on that, right?"

"Please do. When you do that, can you find out about my husband? I was with him when... when it happened," she said, her voice choking with pain. Rush/Rumplestiltskin reached into his pocket for an handkerchief only to realise that neither of them had one. Someone, the other woman in the room, Chloe, his memory filled him in, handed her a tissue, much to his disgust. They were nasty things, not like a proper handkerchief, and he took a second to berate his other self for being unprepared.

"Ok, so TJ also notes that you have a picture of your...husband?" he asked. Belle was more reluctant this time to take off the locket. She didn't trust the man either. "Interesting," he said as he looked from the picture to Rush sitting next to her.

"Yes, yes, we've done that already," Rush said snappishly. "For the record, no I don't know if he is a relative of mine, could be. He is certainly not me, as you well know since I have been here since..." he paused. He'd started to say before June, which was when he and Belle had been married. "When was that picture taken?" he covered quickly. Good thing that he and Rush were both used to thinking on their feet.

"June, last year. June 27th," she supplied.

"Well, since we all know where I was back then..." he said with a twisted smile that had nothing to do with humour. There was something in the back of his shared mind, something nasty that had to do with Young and he knew that mentioning would cause the man to back down, though he wasn't sure what it was yet.

"Yes, well, we've got that out of the way," Young said, avoiding the topic quickly and handing the locket back to Belle, failing to notice Rush helping fasten it back around her neck. "What do you do in Maine?" They all knew he wasn't just being pleasant, he was looking for all the information, things he could send back to Earth to try to trip her up when they checked on her background. Fortunately Rumplestiltskin knew his lady, and she would handle this easily.

"I'm the town librarian," she told him. "Also, I help in my husband's shop occasionally," she responded easily. "Oh, and my father's on certain holidays. He's the town florist."

"Ok, nice, friendly little town then, married to Mr. Gold, who does what exactly?"

"My husband runs a pawn and antiques shop on Main Street, actually the only one in town. He also owns some real estate, everyone knows him," she told him, giving him just enough information. Regardless of the situation she had to play it until they could figure out how to get out of it. "Please is all this necessary? Anyone in Storybrooke can tell you the same."

"That is the point. You could be making all this up," the Commander said, looking at her. He was suspicious by nature, though he didn't fail to notice how beautiful she was, of that Rumplestiltksin was sure. That and something told him he wasn't above sleeping with women under his command. If he made a move on Belle though, he would find himself dead, possibly quite slowly.

"But I'm not," she told him calmly. "Like I said, its a small town. My father's shop is Game of Thorns, I have one of those little key tags...well, I did, I suppose its wherever my keys are. His name is Moe French. My husband is Richard Gold."

"The man in the picture, yes," Young said. "So this Mr. Gold, your husband, he's older than you, isn't he? Looks like he could be old enough to be your father, actually. Assuming he's about the same age as Dr. Rush there. A rich man I suppose, owning the only antiques store in town. Cradle robber, is he? Or do you just..." Before he could finish the sentence, before he could actually do anything at all, she was up and her small hand was colliding with his cheek. The resounding slap that echoed around the room and knocked his head around. Greer had moved into a defensive position about a moment before she connected, but having established that she was no actual threat, he had shifted back and waited for the fall out.

"You may be in charge here," she said, standing up to all of her diminutive height but with the dignity of the Lady she was. "I may owe you some debt for rescuing me from...wherever I was. But that gives you absolutely no right to make assumptions about me or my husband, especially as it has nothing to do with how I got here or what happens now. I'll thank you to keep your comments professional, or at least your prurient comments to yourself." Young was still looking at her in shock, where as Rush wasn't trying to hide his smirk, an expression familiar to both of the men in that body. Camille looked a little surprised (and not a little impressed though she tried to hid it,) while Scott was pretending to look anywhere else, and Greer just pretended that everything was normal.

"I'm sorry, Belle...er... Mrs. French," Colonel Young said, realising that perhaps he had best back off from the fascinating little firebrand. Beautiful as well, he thought privately. He wondered how someone who looked like Rush, skinny, short and old, managed a beautiful woman like that, but letting that curiosity get the best of him was what led to him getting his face slapped so perhaps backing off was in order. He had deserved it though, he admitted. "So, town librarian, married, daughter of the florist, any particular people we can ask about you?"

"Anyone, like I said, its a small town. I suppose Ruby Lucas, she's one of my closest friends, or Emma...Emma Swan, she's the sheriff and she will know how to get you in touch with anyone you need to talk to, or Bae...Neal, he's my husband's son, you should talk to him, he should know what's happened to his father," Belle said, anxious to get this all over. She was tired, bone tired. She didn't even begin realise how tired until the adrenaline from her attack on Young began to ebb.

"Very well, as soon as we are out of FTL," he said to the room in general though she had no idea what he was talking about. "Someone will have to use the stones. I suppose you want to be the one to do it, Rush?" There was an unpleasant tone in his voice.

"Not at all," Rumplestiltskin replied. He wasn't exactly sure what the man was talking about but the images in his head told him that it had something to do with trading or sharing consciousness, and regardless of how it worked, that was the last thing he needed to be doing right now. He wasn't even sure how it would work in his current conditions, would one, the other or both end up in the mind of a third person? The person on the other end was likely to have a stroke from the pressure. He was going to be lucky if he could prevent that from happening to him without any help. Not to mention having no idea what the person involved would remember, if there would be bleed over. It could make things even more complicated. He had to find a way to send a message back to Emma, Regina, someone in town, but right now that was going to have to wait. "I have more than enough work to do as it is. I certainly haven't the time to deal with a security check on a girl that somehow managed to appear on the other side of the galaxy without access to a gate. How she got here, that is more my line. Paranoia is yours," he said rising abruptly. "I think we are done here." He stood and offered a hand to Belle. Was it out of character? Probably, but right at that moment he didn't care.

"Rush, you can't just..." Young snarled but he had already opened the door and was ushering her into the hall. Greer followed along after a moment, catching up with them in the corridor and falling into step behind them. Rush looked at him, but Greer just shrugged and continued to follow them. Clearly getting rid of the body guard was the first order of business.

"I'm taking her to the mess for food, is there a particular reason you need to follow us?"

"The Colonel said make sure she was shown to quarters and not running around the ship," he said concisely.

"Does she look like she is running anywhere?" He growled. "I'm going to take her for some of that revolting stuff they pretend is food and get her a room. I can lock the door if it will make him feel better, and since I am the only one who can do it, I'd say you are unnecessary."

Greer looked like he was thinking it over. "Need to eat anyway," he said with a shrug. Inside his borrowed skin, Rumplestilskin growled. Rush noted that the man would do just exactly what was required, but no more, so he subsided a little. After all, it was only a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all that are reading, and for all the kudos. Read, review, all that kind of thing. THanks to Robin4 for betaing this one.


	3. Together again...sort of.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush's thoughts, and the reunion of Belle and Rumplestiltskin.

Nicholas Rush did not consider himself a man given to fancy. He had always been about the numbers, the beauty of the maths. He believed in alien technology, as if he had much of a choice much of a choice, but magic, that was beyond him. For a brief moment after it happened (whatever it was), he wondered if he had gone mad, but the girl...there were too many things she knew, that he knew about her, curtesy of his dreams and her appearance. Which was why, when he found himself a passenger in his own body, overwhelmed by the other personality, Rumplestiltskin/Richard Gold who ever or whatever he was, Nick had no choice but accept that it was real, was happening, and he was torn between terror and fascination.

He had for the most part remained quiet during the briefing. Not that he could do much, as far as he could tell, he had no control over his own body at this point. Although it was clear that he could communicate, or at least that the other...being had access to his memories, just as he had access to Rumplestiltskin's, and really? Rumplestiltskin, a child's story, at least he though it was. He'd never been much for fairy stories even when he was a child. But if the bits of information filtering through to him were correct, then at least some fairy stories were true, and he was wracking what was left of his brain for information. Some things were immediately obvious to him. The...man who was sharing his body with him was completely in love with the woman who they had found down on the planet. In fact, he hypothesized that she had been the trigger which had activated the consciousness and brought it from his dreams to the forefront of his mind.

At least the man seemed to be able to pick up on things easily. On letting the rest of the crew of Destiny know what was happening to them, they were in agreement, neither one of them wanted to be subjected to the batteries of tests and potential experiments that would be involved if anyone found out that Rush's mind was not his own. They also shared a black fear of being caged, though he didn't exactly have access to the memories that would allow him to understand why it was so in the other man's case. Instead he spent the debriefing trying to actively give him the information he needed to get through without anyone being the wiser. He'd been both surprised and delighted with the woman that something in the shared consciousness told him was the other man's wife (True Love, the phrase echoed in his mind, though he didn't believe in such things, while they clearly had some kind of special meaning to the other). She stood up to Young, and had the nerve to put him in his place, which pleased them both immensely. Either Rumplestiltskin had picked up on his dislike or had his own reasons to be cautious of men like him. Regardless, he followed along. It was an odd feeling, being a passenger in his own body. When they finished the debrief, they went into the mess hall, not exactly his favourite place on the ship. It was full of people he only mostly tolerated, and food that was really best not thought about too much.

They got their slop and settled into a table, trying to ignore the stares of the others. After all, new people were not something they had on Destiny, ever. But like him, Rumplestiltskin wasn't interested in company. In fact, he'd have been happier if Greer had gone somewhere else, but the man clung to them like some previously unknown overlarge growth. But there was nothing to be done, not until they got Belle safely away and could be alone. It was clear enough that he was going to share this with her. Everything that he had access to told him that she was brilliant, brave and completely trustworthy. Even accepting his probable bias, he was willing to go along with it, not that he had a choice.

Rumplestiltskin took a swallow of the hot beverage in his cup and just barely managed not to swear at it. He looked into the depths of the cup with a grimace wondering what would happen if he just cursed the stuff into oblivion.

"What's the matter, Rush?" Greer asked with an almost grin. "It's better than usual. It's never going to replace coffee but..." He failed to say any of the things he thought of. While Rush apparently drank coffee and this...swill, he'd never been a fan, preferring to drink tea in this world the way he had in the old one.

"What is it?" Belle asked, taking her own sip and barely resisting the urge to spit it out.

"Artificial coffee replacement. Not completely sure what's in it, not sure I want to know. You get used to it," Greer said, for the first time trying to actually be a bit friendly. He seemed to have decided that she wasn't a threat, and Rumplestiltskin wondered how much of that was his darling's bravery. She always made an impression.

"I don't want to get used to it, thank you," she said, putting the cup down and picking up the water she had been given. "I'm not a coffee drinker," she told him politely.

"Sorry, Miss," he said, more polite than Rush, from his position as observer could ever remember him being. "If you want caffeine, I'm afraid its what we have."

She just nodded and they all turned their attention to the...food. Rumplestiltskin and from what he could tell, Rush himself, was an indifferent eater, not much caring one way or another what was set before him, but even focusing on the thought that this was necessary fuel wasn't enough to make it anything but unappetizing. As they were eating, TJ came and joined them, clearly trying to be friendly.

"It's nutritious," the medic said as she sat herself down next to Greer, Belle having chosen to sit close to her husband, regardless of body.

"Which means it's required to be awful," Belle and Rush said at the same time, before looking at each other in surprise and laughing.

"My husband says that every time I try something new and healthy," she explained quickly.

"I think that is a universal sentiment," Rumplestiltskin said, realising that they had to be careful, very careful.

"Rush, stop scaring her off the food," TJ said, though she knew she wasn't going to get through to the scientist. "Don't mind him, before we came here, he lived on a steady diet of coffee, cigarettes and whatever was stuck under his nose. I don't think he knows what he is eating most of the time."

"This food is best eaten with your mind on other things, anything in fact," he said with a grimace that didn't bode well for conversation. The rest of the meal passed with Belle asking questions which Greer and TJ answered, while he occasionally chimed in to clarify something from the depths of the other man's memory. Keeping quiet seemed the best way not to give himself away, and no one seemed bothered by it.

When they finished, TJ offered to help Belle. "We can find you some quarters near mine, and I can show you the showers and things." Rush knew it was out of character, but there was no way he was letting this woman take his Belle away, especially when his memory told him that her quarters were far from his, closer to Young and several other crew members. He didn't want anyone near Belle but him, even though he knew that was impossible.

"Thank you for the offer," Belle told her politely. "Dr. Rush has offered to find me quarters near his." That seemed to make the other woman uneasy.

"There are plenty of empty rooms near me, and the corridors are quieter. I thought perhaps Belle would want a bit of quiet while she adapts," his explanation made sense, though his concern seemed to disconcert them. After all, Rush had little time for anything that didn't have to do with unraveling the mysteries of the ship. But right now, this mystery was a little more pressing. "Besides, I still need to talk to her about how she got from Maine to that little planet we found her on. As near as I can tell, she didn't find a previously unknown Stargate buried in the woods, power it, figure out how it works and manage to get herself to a point that we couldn't travel to without an intermediate step, unless there is a lot more to her than she appears." The sarcasm seemed to sooth some of the medics discomfort, or at least make her accept that it there was nothing wrong with his behavior, though he knew he would pay for speaking about Belle like that later. And take every moment of it with pleasure, he thought to himself.

"Ummm, alright," she said. "Let it go for now. She should get some sleep anyway. Tomorrow, we are going to have to find you something to do, Belle. Everyone works here, everyone contributes."

"I am more than glad to do my part," Belle told her happily. "At least until we figure out how to get me back where I came from." At that TJ and Greer looked at one another, at Rush, anywhere but at her. No one wanted to be nominated as the person who told her that there was no way home. Of course, Rumplestiltskin wasn't certain there wasn't a way to get them both back home, but he wasn't going to tell them that.

"That's settled then. Belle," he said, politely, gesturing for her to come with him.

"I'm supposed to make sure..." Greer said, but Rush cut him off.

"I can easily program a kino to keep an eye on her if Young really thinks its necessary, but for right now, I think that it was decided that what she needed was sleep." Rush took no response for agreement and turned on his heel to join the young woman.

Behind them, Greer looked at TJ suspiciously. "What do you think that's about?" Greer said. "Rush is never that nice to anyone. Hell, he's more suspicious than any of us when it comes to finding strangers."

"No clue, maybe it's just that she is a mystery? Face it, if it's something to do with unknown ancient tech, he's the one. For the rest, I don't know. Maybe he's attracted to her?" she said. It was well known that unlike a lot of the other members of this ragtag crew, Rush had shown no interest in any of the women on board, or any of the men for that matter. She knew that he was a widower and had always assumed that either he hadn't gotten over his wife, or just didn't care. The man was a bit of an obsessive-compulsive personality. Maybe this Belle just tapped into a previously unknown human streak. Or maybe he was attracted to her, and figured that he could use his resemblance to her husband to get her into bed, but she instantly put that thought away until she actually saw evidence of it. After all, Rush was a lot of things, but thus far he hadn't shown signs of being that kind of asshole.

Belle walked beside Rush down the corridor, content just to follow. It was certainly not the place to ask questions, not until they had a door closed behind them. Her head was still spinning from everything that had happened. Either that or she had food poisoning, but she was pretty sure that it took longer than that. Certainly what passed for food here resembled a cross between some of her early efforts at cooking and what they had served her in her prison under the hospital. She was most certainly grateful that she had never developed a taste for coffee if that was what passed for it here. But for now, Belle would settle for getting some place private.

At each turn, people in the corridor became fewer, until they were finally in a place where it was only the two of them. Finally he stopped in front of a door and hit some kind of high tech palm pad and the door opened into a room. It was simple, with all the personality of a hotel room, and not the ones at Granny's either. But it was empty and would do for now. The bed at least was a good size, she had been half afraid it would look like her cell. The door closed behind her, and they were alone.

"Belle," Rumplestiltskin said, turning to his love, finally alone with her. His eyes filled with love and tears, something most people would not expect either of the men in the body to be capable of.

"Rumple?" she said carefully, just to make sure. She wasn't sure exactly what to say, what to do.

"The one and only, Dearie," he said, bowing with a bit of a flourish that would have made a great many people nervous but only made Belle certain. She threw herself into his arms and he caught her, pulling her as close as was humanly possible. It had taken a lot of will not to drop her. His balance was still a little uncertain, and the headache wasn't helping but none of that mattered right now, as Belle was in his arms, sobbing and whispering a flood of broken nonsense into his shoulder. "Shhh love. I'm here, we are together. Everything will be fine," he whispered against her hair, and as far as he was concerned it would be, as long as they were together, nothing else in the world mattered.

Finally she calmed and pulled away from him far enough to look him in the eye. "What happened? Where are we and how did we get here?" she asked. Always focused, that was his Belle.

"Can we get to those questions later?" he asked as he leaned down for a kiss. It seemed so very long since he had kissed her, and he was still making up for all the years they had lost to the curse. At this rate, he would have to lock them both away for several years, and at this very moment, that didn't seem to be such a bad idea. Belle welcomed him, opening her mouth to allow his entry, and for a moment he thought of nothing but the familiar taste of her that overwhelmed the slop they had just finished. Perhaps he could actually get through another meal if only he could kiss Belle between bites. Without releasing her mouth, he began to maneuver her towards the bed. The air in the little room was a bit stale smelling, but that would go away soon enough, and they were blessedly alone. Pulling away to attend to the need for oxygen, still Rumplestiltskin was unwilling to let go of her more than he had to, resting his forehead against hers, he drew her down to the bed, determined to make up for whatever had happened, even before he figured out what it was.

"Rumplestiltskin, wait," she whispered as he sat down on the edge of the bed and tugged her down with him.

"No wait, we are alone," he growled hungrily, pressing his lips to where ever he could find.

"Rumplestilskin," she said sharply, knowing that it would take very little for the two of them to just forget everything but each other. "I know, I want that too, but first..." she said.

Ever practical, that was his Belle, he thought as he dragged himself away from her. She was right, he knew that, but it was taking everything in him to resist. He had once had all the self control in the world, but it seemed that now that he had his True Love, some of that had slipped, especially after his recent...whatever it was, the time he had spent being locked in some kind of dream state with Nicholas Rush. Subconscious, the man whispered in the back of his mind, and suddenly he was struck with another problem that he didn't really want to think about too much. He had just kissed his wife, he wanted his wife, but this wasn't his body, exactly and the owner was still very much at home. Rumplestiltskin had never been known for his sharing nature, though at the moment he wasn't sure exactly what to do. It occured to him to him to wonder if he could just eject the other man, ignoring the scream of anger and terror that came with it from inside his mind, but no, that would never work. He needed the other man to pull of this little masquerade and besides that, Belle would never approve. So instead, he took a deep breath and decided to deal with those thoughts later.

Belle had slipped off his lap to settle next to him on the bed, thighs still touching knee to hip, close enough for comfort but not too close. "What would you have of me, Belle?" he asked.

"For now, how about some answers. What happened to us? How did we get here? How long have you been here?" He cut her off with a kiss.

"How about you let me answer those before the list gets any longer?" he said with a gentle laugh. "I will tell you what I know. The last thing I remember was getting attacked by that witch, not certain where she came from, probably something to ask Jefferson when I can, but that's for later. What happened to us? I suspect it was some kind of magical backlash. I am fairly certain I hit her wand as she was casting a spell, the results of magic like that can be...unpredictable. I remember casting something to protect you, but I didn't have much time to shape it, which may be why you ended up where you did. Does that satisfy you, love?" he said as he leaned over to kiss her.

"Why does everyone think you are this Nicholas Rush? Is he...I mean are you..." she couldn't seem to find the right way to express herself.

"As far as I can tell, there is a real Nicholas Rush. He is a scientist here," he said with a twist of his features. He'd never particularly understood scientists, of course since the only one he really knew was Frankenstein, his distaste could perhaps be understood.

"As far as you can tell? Does that mean he is a real person? Or is it like the curse memories?" she asked. Rumplestiltskin wasn't sure he wanted to explain the current situation to his love, but honestly was most definitely part of their promise to one another, and not explaining wasn't an option. He put a hand on her arm.

"What I know is this, I have been...lost, in limbo, I don't know what, since Storybrooke. As near as I can tell, I was only able to interact with the world through the dreams of this man, Nicholas Rush. Then, today, when I saw you, something changed. Suddenly I was awake and aware, and in control," he said with a shrug. "Could be a side effect of the magic. Remember, magic will protect itself. But all that matters is that now we are together. Everything else can be dealt with as long as we are together," Rumplestiltskin said, unable to stop himself from pulling her into his arms and indulging in a long, slow kiss, reacquainting himself with her feel, her taste, and how much she loved him. There was something nagging at the back of his mind, but whatever it was, it could wait.

Belle returned his kisses and melted into his arms and before she could ask another question, he gently pushed her back on the bed cover before leaning over her and starting to reach for the hem of the shirt she was wearing. But suddenly something was wrong, Belle was pulling away from him, trying to get him to stop, and he didn't know what he had done, but he pulled back reluctantly. "What is it love?" he asked, fear and concern battling along with everything else in his head.

"You said Nicholas Rush was a real person, so what happened to him? Is he back in Storybrooke, in your body or..." she had an idea what he was going to say, and she wasn't sure how to react to it.

"No," he said, taking a deep breath. Belle had hit on exactly the problem he had been trying to ignore. Like it or not, he was occupying someone else's body, sharing it, actually. And as much as he wanted right this moment to make love to his wife, he wasn't sure he wanted to share that with the man who actually owned the body, nor was he completely certain he could stop himself. It was a complicated issue and if he hadn't already been having problems with his head it would probably be bothering him more than it was. "Dr. Rush is still here, just..." he didn't actually have the words for what was happening, he didn't even understand what was happening, though he was reluctant to admit it, which made it even more awkward. "He's merely...dormant at the moment," he told her.

"Does that mean he knows what is going on? Rumple, how can we...it's almost worse that someone watching, it feels like..." she pulled away miserably, and he understood how she felt, but he didn't have the answer. How could he reassure her that it wasn't cheating on your husband even if the body wasn't technically his? Listening finally to the voice ringing in the back of his head, the voice that belonged to Nick Rush, he acknowledged that it wasn't actually fair to any of them, though he objected to the scientist's expression. Pornography indeed, they were properly married. He told the damn man as much. Just because he was celibate didn't mean...Communicating directly with the other man in his head (ok, perhaps technically he was the other man in Rush's head, but right now he was the one in charge) was not particularly difficult when they were actually trying.

He could see in a flash that Rush was a widower, that his wife had died of cancer some time before. That he had lost his love and had been unable to pull himself back from his obsession after that. It was that understanding, that sense of loss, of guilt which he knew so well, that he leveraged. After all, he understood what it was to lose, or think you have lost your love. Surely there was a way for the two of them to work together without...well, as much as he wanted his wife, he also wasn't necessarily willing to share with the other man. Rumplestiltskin was also extremely possessive of his wife, and wanted to make that abundantly clear. He would keep the threat of eviction quite clear in the other man's mind.

There was something, the man was trying to communicate something with him, something about how they communicated with Earth about what they did when they shared consciouses. The man clearly wanted him out of his head (except for a little part of him that wanted to actually find out more about magic, or as he expressed it, how his 'science' worked). But he also seemed to understand, or perhaps he was afraid that if he pushed, Rumplestiltskin would make good on his threat. Instead he thought there was a way for him to more or less 'go to sleep' for a while, to give them some privacy, like a deep meditation state. That they would be using his body as well seemed to bother him only a very little. He seemed to care very little for his physical form ( there was something there about ascension but Rumplestiltskin didn't even know what that was and didn't want to at this moment), considering the condition it was in, preferring the life of the mind, something Rumplestiltskin could understand. He had certainly been that way before Belle had come along, barely remembering or noticing the need to eat or sleep for that matter. Of course, he had magic to serve him, where as what he could tell of Rush, the man simply kept going until he couldn't and then fell down where he was.

Belle was tugging at his arm and crying out his name when he finally became aware of his surroundings again. "Rumplestiltskin, please, love, answer me," she said as she shook him.

"I'm here sweetheart," he replied, unaware he had lost himself for a little while. That was something else he was going to have to be careful of, or rather they were until they figured this out.

"What happened? You just stopped talking. I was scared."

"I'm sorry, Belle, I was having a talk with Dr. Rush, trying to figure out a way to make this...less awkward," he said after a pause.

"I don't think there is any way that this is going to be anything but awkward," she told him. "But perhaps between the three of us, we can figure out some way of getting you and I out of here."

"For right now, Rush offered to...er...go to sleep you might say, in order to grant us some time."

"That is very nice of him, I'm not sure though..." she said, biting nervously at her lip. She wanted her husband fiercely with a passion beyond even their usually active love, but how could she relax, knowing that he wasn't his own man, or rather, that he was using someone else's body. On the other hand, they were practically identical, and if he was willing, then why should she reject his kind offer assuming it was an offer and not Rumplestiltskin threatening him..

"Belle, it will be all right," he assured her. He could see himself that the man had been worn past exhaustion long before he had become part of his mental landscape. He was fairly certain the rest would do them both good. At least it might get rid of the headache for a while. "But first, perhaps," he said aloud, though to himself, looking down at with distaste. "A shower and a shave. By all the gods, how does he live like this?" One thing about Rumplestiltskin, he had always been impeccably groomed, and the thought of touching his lady when he smelled like... he wasn't actually sure what, but he was certain that only the desperation of their reunion had kept her from finding him as offensive as he found himself. Besides, it would give the other man time to do whatever it was that he was going to try to do. If there were difficulties, it would be a good thing to find out before things got to an awkward juncture. At least the man seemed not to be inclined to spy on them. Of course, that could also be the threats that he had made to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those of you who are reading, and to Robin4 for helping with the beta. This is going to get a bit complicated so warning in advance. You know the rest, disclaimers, read, review, all that kind of thing.


	4. Musings and Mist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward words between Rumplestiltskin and Rush, while they work out the situation.

"You are fine, I don't...I could use a shower myself. The planet had water, but a proper shower would certainly make me feel more...myself," she said. "Unless you are hiding a big bath tub around here?" she asked wistfully, and he knew she was thinking of the big tub in their bath at home, claw footed and big enough for both of them as they had found out, and taken advantage of more than once. But that was a thought for later, not until a few other things had been dealt with. Right now those things included cleaning up and having a bit of a conversation with...er...himself. Gods, if he came through this without going even more mad than he probably already was, it would be a miracle.

With a final kiss, he excused himself, explaining it was probably best if he showered first while she stayed in the room. After all, they had to play the roles that were assigned to them, at least for a time. Belle agreed though she was no more fond of the idea of them being separated than he was. Allowing her love to lock her away was easier than facing the idea of any of the strangers in or being caught out. Letting himself out of her quarters and locking the door behind him, making sure with the help of Rush that no one would be able to open it except him, he went to his own quarters, conveniently two door away (he would have had her next door, but that might be a bit much for his reputation as an anti social scientist, not to mention that particular room smelled strongly of...something, though he had never quite figured out what).

Inside, he rummaged through the clothes there. Rush explained, or more accurately shared at least some of the memories, the evacuation which he more or less remembered from his earlier exploration of the man's mind. The hastily grabbed 'go bag' that he had kept near the door on Icarus (and everywhere else) in case they needed to evacuate, or more accurately, if he cracked the code and had to take off on the next stage of his obsessive quest. There were several pairs of boxer shorts, a more or less inoffensive undergarment, two heavy thermal undershirts, a couple of tee shirts (all about as clean as the one he was wearing but that seemed to be true for most of it), two button down shirts, another pair of jeans, fatigues and two jackets, one military issue, the other a sort of corduroy blazer of the type favoured by college professors in films. He sighed. The big man, Greer, was right about one thing, he had most certainly got more dress sense than the man he was currently occupying, evacuation or not.

He managed to find a clean pair of boxer shorts, a set of clothes that also had the virtue of being clean, and his shower kit before hurrying off to the showers. Half way there he was interrupted by the radio blaring at him. Young. "Rush, where are you, and where is the girl?" the Colonel growled through the static.

"I am on my way for a shower if ye must know," he growled back. "Mrs. Gold is in quarters, resting with the door locked. Anythin' else you need right at this moment?" He was most certainly not going to stand for the man trying to bully him the way his memory told him he tried with Rush. While the scientist mostly managed to hold his own (or more likely ignore it, he seemed to handle everything by burying himself in his work. And no Rumplestiltskin had no desire to explore those similarities of personality right now, if ever). There was no way that the sorcerer was going to allow it. Perhaps by the time they managed to separate themselves, he would have make the colonel rethink his attitude. It was only fair considering what the man was currently giving him, willing or not. Rumplestiltskin was not one to allow the books to go unbalanced.

There was a moment of silence. "All right," the voice growled a little quieter. Clearly Young was troubled by something.

"Good, now if you don' mind, I'm going off the radio for a bit," he responded.

"Rush, you..." the man started but the radio was off. He had enough on his mind, or minds right now, he didn't need his shower interrupted. Showers, he didn't even like showers, thought he had dealt with them in Storybrooke, it being easier on his leg before the magic came back. Magic, that was a thought. He had been too busy with Belle, and trying to pretend that he was someone he wasn't to be what he was. First and foremost he was a sorcerer, a user of magic, and it would have come as a big shock to anyone who knew him that it took him this long to reach out for the magic.

Rumplestiltskin extended his senses, wondering it would be difficult, his body not being his own, or if it wouldn't work. Of course Dr. Rush, in the back of his mind was not helping. His naturally skeptical nature led to a lot of questions, echoing in his head until he shouted the other man down with threats of eviction. Standing alone, his kit in his hand, he reached out. It was hard, this was not his mind, though it was similar, it literally didn't know how to react to magic. Still he focused himself and reached out.

It was there, he could feel it, almost see it, magic stronger than anything he had felt in this magic free world before, but he couldn't quite reach it, though he tried. Rumplestiltskin pushed, drawing the magic to him, but it was taking more effort than it ever had. His head was pounding, his heart racing and his breathing had gone funny when he stopped, white lights dancing before his eyes. Raising a hand to his face, he felt something drip. Blood, dripping from his nose. But he could feel it now, his magical awareness back in tune. Briefly he wondered if Rush had a natural aptitude for magic but the scientist in the back of his screamingly painful head denied it between bursts of pain. Of course, he would, he knew nothing about magic, though he was starting to ask questions, questions Rumplestiltskin was in no condition to answer. He wondered if perhaps the magic that had protected them, brought he and Belle here had simply been more than he could handle at the time. Rush caught on quickly, comparing it to an overused muscle, but that was about all the use the man was.

Rumplestiltskin decided that he had done enough for now. He left the room heading for the showers, wanting to clean up and hoping that his nose bleed stopped before Belle saw it. She would not approve, but then there were reasons he wanted to test his powers without her there. Belle was only a little comfortable with his magic, realising the necessity of it for defending them, but generally uncomfortable with him relying on it too much. Besides, if his powers had got out of control, he didn't want her anywhere near. He had promised he would take care of her, protect her, and he was determined to live up to that.

In the shower room, he stripped quickly, taking the barest look over the body that was almost his. He'd never much thought himself worth the look. He was too thin, too short, and at least in his own body, too scared. Rush's body was possibly a little thinner, though he had the same wiry strength. There were only a few visible scars that he noticed, he could hear the man saying something about a scar under his hair from an accident, and a few others from either alien encounters, or problems on planets they had encountered, but nothing like his scarred and twisted leg. Of course there was the tattoo, a lizard of some sort on his/Rush's shoulder, strange enough but then such things were not unusual in this world. Compared to his leg it was a vast improvement and he could more than live with that.

As far as he could tell, except for those things, they were identical. Until he looked down. It was a strange experience, having not particularly been given to closely examine his own body in a very long time, and not been particularly given to examine anyone else's certainly not anyone else male, so it was with a certain amount of trepidation that he decided he'd best do a complete survey. After all, he was going to have to live with until something changed. Couldn't avoid it, but it still felt strange and uncomfortable, like going through someone's drawers. "What have you done to my..." he shouted or so it seemed to him, though it was probably in his head.

"Your?" Rush responded with equal furor. "You are the one in my body, and I had nothing to do with..."

"Mutilation?" Rumplestiltskin stopped, as something in the back of his head, cultural memories filtering in, and this was not a conversation he wanted to be having with the man he was sharing a body with. In fact this was a conversation he didn't want to have with anyone ever, and the other man seemed similarly inclined. In fact they more or less mutually agreed to pretend they had never thought about any of it. But it was definitely a difference, one that would be obvious to Belle, remind her that he was and wasn't the man she loved. It disturbed him and made him think once, twice and three times about what he wanted to do with his wife.

For the most part, it didn't bother him that he was in another body, especially when the body didn't have his bad leg. So many things he had wanted to do with Belle, and some of them had been impossible with his leg. Even as those images started to fill his head, he heard the whisper of the other man, begging him to stop. There was the rub. The different body didn't bother him, the other tenant did. Rumplestiltskin was both selfish and possessive, he knew himself. He wanted Belle, he needed her, especially when they didn't know how long this would last. But did he want to risk sharing her with this other man, even if it was only the memory of her?

Of course Rush had been very clear in his lack of interest in Belle, but then he didn't know her, yet. Rumplestiltskin honestly thought the other man didn't have much appreciation of beauty. The growl in the back of his mind didn't change his opinion any. Still Rush was more than clear about his lack of voyeuristic tendencies, he didn't know, and didn't want to. Rumplestiltskin knew himself, and he knew he wasn't above accepting that as justification, especially when he was so very desperate for his Belle. Trying to clear away all those thoughts as being for another day, one where he was not as suddenly and completely exhausted as he was right now.

Instead, he focused on shaving, something that he had gotten used to doing by hand during the 28 years of the curse (before that, he hadn't needed to, a side effect of the peculiar, barely human skin/scales that didn't allow facial hair to grow). The whole time Rush, who wasn't a firm believer in shaving, kept him in a running argument, especially since not shaving offended Young's sense of military decorum. But Belle's preference for a clean shaven jaw overrode his desire the irritate the colonel with absolutely no second thought. It was going to take a bit of effort not to get too heavily involved in the dispute between the two men, he realised, but it might at least provide him some amusement. Laundry was another thing that would need to be dealt with, he realised as he dressed himself. Rumplestiltskin hadn't done his own in more than 300 years, and judging by the state of Rush's clothes, he didn't do it much more often. As the man had gone quiet in his head though, he decided it was something for much later, while he dressed quickly in the unfamiliar clothes before going to collect Belle from her safe haven.

When he unlocked the door, Belle was almost exactly where he left her, resting back on the bed. The sound of the door opening brought her from the half sleep she had slipped into. After all this had been without a doubt one of the strangest days she had ever had. Considering her life, born and raised a noble woman in an enchanted realm, married to the most feared dark sorcerer ever, not to mention the magical mishap and mayhem that had dogged them since the curse broke, that took quite a bit.

Seeing Rumplestiltskin leaning against the doorway, clean shaven, long hair still damp from the shower, was almost enough to make her forget her resolve for a shower, or anything else except the man in front of her. He was beautiful, whether he believed it or not. They had been through so very much together, been separated so many time and yet here they were once again, together. On the other side of the universe, to be sure, in a space ship which was more than she could have conceived of back in the enchanted forest. But despite everything, they were together. Regardless of everything else, at least for now, it was enough.

"Better, love?" he asked as she rose and came to him, putting her arms around the familiar body, or almost familiar. He held himself slightly differently, she realised. The leg which had always troubled him, though he would never admit it, had given him a tendency to lean his weight more heavily on his good leg. Here, he stood upright, and the familiar cane was gone. The clothes were unfamiliar as well, though now that he was wearing something that looked like it had not been slept in, she could almost see him as only she did, the tie gone, shirt unbuttoned slightly, revealing just a hint of warm skin.

As comfortable as she was, she knew she had to move before they got even more distracted than they already were. Like him, she wanted to be properly clean. She had no kit, not even her own soap, but he had brought a few things, a towel, some of his soap (or more accurately, Rush's soap) and shampoo.

Leading her down the corridor he showed her where the shower was, and then, to make certain that temptation didn't get the best of him, not to mention endanger them should anyone come looking, he took himself to the door, to keep a watch. Disused, the corridor might be, but he wasn't about to risk Young, Greer, or anyone else for that matter coming to see how his wife was settling in. While he waited, he turned back on the radio. It was something that Rush would do, he knew, actually he was fairly certain that the man would have had it on while he was in the shower, but some things the rest of these people would have to get accustomed to, and him not being at their beck and call at all hours was one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, but it wasn't easy to write. Thanks to Robin4 for the beta and the help and to all who are enjoying the story. Please comment, reviews greatly appreciated.


	5. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which, Young has a bad feeling, and Belle meets someone new.

Everett Young was tired. He knew that, actually everyone knew that but then everyone on the damn ship was tired. As commanding officer it was his job to see to it that they all survived, and doing that took work. And of course, Dr. Nicholas Rush was a lot of work all by himself. The door opened, nothing like door bells or knocking on Destiny, and TJ and Camille came in.

"You wanted to see us, Colonel?" Camille asked.

He waved the two women to seats. "I did. TJ, you examined that woman, Mrs. Gold."

"I did, and the medical diagnostics showed nothing unusual, and I mean nothing unusual, which is kind of weird in itself."

"Explain."

"She had none of the background radiation that you should expect from someone who has ever been in space. In fact, there is nothing unusual about her at all, except that she is in perfect health. She was a little dehydrated, a little undernourished, but nothing like even the vitamin deficiencies we see in our own people. No past surgery, x-rays show no past breaks, nothing but the sort of usual scars that most of us have from childhood accidents. Also, interestingly enough, no sign of orthodontia. She is a perfectly average woman for her age. Then there are her clothes, nothing out of the way, but they at least look earth made, tags in the back identifying them by brand and country of origin, all from Earth. I even recognised name on her shirt."

"Camille, what about you? You are as good a judge of people as we have. What do you think?" he asked.

"Well, I wasn't with her all that long. But there is nothing to say she is lying, if that's what you are looking for. She seemed sincere enough, answered all the questions pretty much as expected. I mean, she showed all the reactions I would expect from someone in a situation that she doesn't understand. The concern for her husband was certainly real enough." The woman tried not to smile at the memory of her slapping Col. Young. If he had been pushing for a reaction, he had certainly gotten one.

"That was my take as well, but I can't help shaking the feeling that something is off. What about Rush, did he seem to be acting...I don't know, different?"

"Different for Rush, or different for the rest of the world?" TJ asked, though she appeared to be taking the question seriously. "He seemed as surprised as the rest of us at her appearance. When we showed him the picture, he also seemed genuinely surprised, but with him, who can tell?"

"Yeah, and that was weird enough. To think there are two of them," Camille said trying for a smile.

"He was nicer to her than he usually is, I suppose. But with Rush, I don't know. He did say something, back in the medical bay, that it was possible that they were related but he didn't know. Maybe it's just that he thinks she might be married to a relative," TJ said with a shrug. She had always been very clear that she didn't understand Rush. If anything, he seemed a little more human around the woman.

"Could be nothing more than that, I suppose," Camille said. "The other question is what exactly are we going to do with her? I mean, a small town librarian doesn't exactly have skills that we need," Camille added, already thinking about how to put her on a work rota. If anything, she was even less useful that Chloe Armstrong, who was a well educated young woman but hardly prepared for a venture in deep space on the far side of the universe.

"No clue. I'm not sure I trust her, but then I'm not sure I trust Rush either, for that matter, and he's been here since the beginning. With him we have no choice. It's possible that her husband is some kind of relative, but I've never known Rush to talk about his family, or anything but the ship really. If she was married to some long lost whatever, do you think he would really care? I don't know," he said, sighing, rubbing his forehead. "You reviewed all the personnel files." He asked Camille. "What do we know about Rush's family?"

"Not much to tell, they did a full background check for everyone. Father deceased, worked in the Glasgow docks, mother left when he was a small child, never came back. He put himself through college, received scholarships and just about every science prize available...no siblings that he listed. Except for his wife, who is also dead, there is no mention of other family, but there wouldn't necessarily be."

"Yes, he said something," TJ put in. "That he could be from his mother's family but he wouldn't know."

"Okay, so nothing unusual. I just can't help but feeling there is something more going on. He seemed...protective of her, and that isn't Rush at all." The colonel was talking but more to himself than anything else. "Dismissed, but keep an eye on her, if you notice something, let me know."

"Alright, Colonel," TJ said.

"Damn gut," he said to himself after they left. "That man is going to be a lot of work." He picked up the radio. "Eli, I need to talk to you," he said briefly, ignoring the stuttering as the young man made a few halfhearted excuses. When he arrived, it took only moments to outline what he wanted.

"You want me to spy on Dr. Rush?" Eli asked incredulously. Before that, everything the commander had asked him to do involved going through records and double checking the science, occasionally checking crew morale through his ever expanding collection of kino footage, but he wasn't sure he was comfortable with actually spying on the irracible Scottish scientist (and not sure he wanted to know what said scientist would do when, not if, he was discovered). Eli really hated being caught in the interminable tug of war between the two men. He had learned more from Dr. Rush than he ever had in college, but at the same time, he wouldn't necessarily call the man a friend, though possibly a mentor. Rush pushed him, a lot. But that was in his nature. He also was the first to tell Eli when he thought he had done something really amazing. Often Eli was the only one that could at least partially keep up with him, though Brody and Volker both had their moments. This felt like betrayal, and it made him a little queasy. Even though he wasn't sure he actually liked Rush, there was something about the man that he kind of understood. Also, he was a terrible liar, and everyone knew it, especially Rush. But there was nothing he could do about it.

On the other hand, he felt like Young trusted him, treated him like an adult. Eli knew the worst of both men. He had been disappointed when Rush tried to frame the Colonel over Spencer's death, but regardless of what both men said, he was also almost completely certain that what happened on the planet, Rush's 'death' wasn't the truth, no one believed it, or maybe wasn't the whole story. But at least they hadn't been at it as much recently. Besides, it was only after Rush was gone that he realised exactly how much the man did and had been doing. He had certainly, as one of his professors once said, suddenly 'known exactly how much he didn't know'. It was complicated, and outside of movie plots, Eli wasn't good with complicated.

"I'm not asking you to spy on him, Eli, not exactly. I just want you to keep an eye on him, tell me if he is acting strange at all. I'm just...concerned. Also, have you finished that analysis of the data from the planet?"

"Not yet, that's what you pulled me away from, and Dr. Rush will want that as soon as he wakes up, so if I have any hope of getting to sleep, I'd better..."

"When he what?" Col. Young asked sharply.

"When he wakes up, Rush told me he was going to get some sleep, which for him is usually only a few hours, so I'd best get busy..."

"When did he tell you this?" Young asked. It wasn't like Rush to leave an analysis for something that he viewed as unimportant as sleep. Still, he had told the man that if he didn't start, he was going to have TJ sedate him. It could be coincidence, but in the back of his mind, he was still uneasy.

"When he came back on the radio, about an hour ago. So if it's all the same to you, Sir," he said waving towards the door.

The colonel nodded, distracted. Something wasn't adding up, but at the moment, Young had nothing but his suspicions, and a gut feeling. Still, he would get to the bottom of this, no matter what.

 

Nicholas Rush woke disoriented. That wasn't all that unusual an experience for him. But in this case, he also woke up in a bed, which wasn't, necessarily. He took a moment, stretched just a little. He realised two things almost at the same moment. One, that he felt better and more rested than he could remember feeling...well, in longer than he actually cared to remember, definitely before Destiny, possibly since before Gloria died. The second, was that he wasn't alone in the bed. That he knew for a fact hadn't happened since Uni, and had involved a sufficient quantity of alcohol, certainly more than was available on Destiny. Then the rest of yesterday started to filter back to him.

He wanted to think it had all been a dream, or possibly a nightmare, he wasn't certain. The only voice in his head at the moment was his own, which was pleasant. But he could feel the, for lack of a better word, presence that told him he wasn't dreaming, nor was he alone. At least at the moment he was fairly sure that Rumplestiltskin (and he never thought he would think that name more than once) was sleeping, much as he had been. It seemed to have done him a lot of good actually, though he would never admit it. He had truly shut down last night, literally tuned out everything else by simply focusing on a mathematical problem that had been giving him difficulty. The net result however, had been a deep state of relaxing, rather like meditation before he had dropped into a completely dreamless sleep. Usually his habit was to just keep working 'til he fell down, pushing himself harder because the other option was so very much worse. When he tried to sleep normally, his mind wouldn't turn off, overwhelmed by the fear that something would happen, the time that he was wasting or the regrets and recriminations that he mostly tried to ignore.

Pushing all that away to be thought about later (or never, Nicholas Rush was not a man hugely given to self examination, in fact he avoided it when at all possibly, he slowly opened his eyes, with a prayer to whatever power there was in the universe that whatever they had done with his body last night, that she was at least descent or this would be more than a little awkward. Rush was no prude, not exactly, but it didn't take much to remember the volatile nature of the...man...in his head. He, at least was wearing something, he could feel the tee shirt covering his chest between them, and the boxer shorts which at the moment were tighter than they should be, nothing to do with him or her either, he reminded himself, merely a natural biological reaction. Still he tried not to think about what the woman in his arms would make of it. He certainly wasn't about to do any exploring in that direction. Contrary to Rumplestiltskin's belief, he did actually notice, in an abstract way, that Mrs. Gold (or however they referred to themselves, that bit was a bit much for him, and really he only cared enough to keep up appearances) was a very attractive woman. Or she would be if he were interested in any woman (he wasn't, unless Destiny counted) and she wasn't the wife of a frightening creature that he was giving mental house room to will he or no. The nastier side of his personality was considering that Young had definitely noticed her beauty, and wondered what the likelihood of him pissing off the volatile sorcerer (another word he definitely didn't think he would ever be considering), and if he did, what the results would be. Certainly it couldn't make his life more complicated than it already was.

"Morning, sleepyhead," the soft voice with it's Australian accent met him, or what he's ears interpreted that way. He wasn't exactly sure he understood where they came from or how they got from there to here. Part of him was admittedly curious, especially since they had gotten here specifically from Earth, and Rumplestiltskin most certainly had no idea about Stargates or any other technology. It took very little for Rush to notice the man's complete disdain for anything more advanced than in internal combustion engine, regardless of the usefulness. The woman curled tight against him, (far tighter than he was comfortable with in the situation) and smiled up into his eyes for a moment. Just a moment, then she appeared to notice the difference. "Rumple?" she asked quietly, biting her lower lip uncertainly.

"I'm afraid not," he said releasing his hold on her, but trying to be as gentle as he could. It wasn't something he was good at. Most people didn't think him capable, but it was more, he rarely cared enough to bother. Still, this situation was difficult and awkward without any help from him, and he was at least smart enough to be wary of Rumplestiltskin. Fairy tale character or not, he had seen enough in his limited exposure to the other man's memory to know that he was both more dangerous and darker than any fairy story he remembered. "I don't believe we have been properly introduced. I'm Dr. Nicholas Rush," he told her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for so much for the comments and kudos. Also my thanks to Robin4 for betaing and for all the talk to get this straight.


	6. The trouble with mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rush explains some things to Belle, Belle has a useful skill, and Young gets on the wrong side of Rumplestiltskin, again.

For a moment Rush almost held out his hand, but that seemed ridiculous in the current situation. The woman's eyes widened, and she blushed just a little. In most women he found it annoying. Women who blushed easy tended, in his mind to be rather vapid or attempting to manipulate (he was thinking specifically about certain students of his) but from what he'd seen, Belle Gold (or whatever she called herself) was none of these things. After all this was a very awkward situation.

"I...pleased to meet you," she said, carefully unwrapping herself from him. Rush found himself reluctant to release her. It had been an awfully long time since he had touched anyone and anyone had touched him. At least since he had been touched in a positive way, getting punched most certainly didn't count. "I'm Belle," she said. Clearly she was the type of person who was determined to be pleasant regardless. He tried not to be annoyed by it. After all, he knew little or nothing about her, but he most certainly knew that he didn't want to upset her, not while his situation was so very precarious.

"I know," he said simply as he pulled away and made to sit up. At least he could be thankful that his natural morning reaction had gone away.

"My husband?" she asked, saying it much more easily than he expected. It was hard to believe, especially with the images in his head, that this woman was so clearly and easily in love with the...whatever he was. The man was green for god's sake, or had been, or something. It wasn't anything he wanted to think about too deeply.

"As near as I can tell, asleep, much as I was for most of the night. One at a time is probably better anyway, to prevent physical strain," he said.

"About last night," she said. "I hope..."

"I don't want to know," he said sharply, only realising after the words had gotten out how they had sounded. He turned to her. Her face registered her hurt at the tone, and he knew he was wrong. "I...I didn't mean it," Rush said hesitantly.

He had no desire to hurt the woman needlessly, and even less desire to do anything that might result in the sorcerer, currently apparently asleep in the back of his mind making good on his threats. Still, he needed a way to explain it to her. He wasn't actually sure it should bother him. People who used the stones did it, he knew that, though nothing was said. Admittedly, he himself only used them to report, or for consulting with colleagues. Still, he had no idea what his body got up to without him. He rather thought nothing, since no one would, in all likelihood, volunteer to visit a lover in the guise of a middle aged, scrawny scotsman when there were so many other, better choices. Rush was under no illusions about his appearance, he'd never understood what Gloria saw in him, or anyone else for that matter. The fact that his counterpart had managed this beautiful young woman confused him just as much. Pushing those thoughts away, he decided to try to explain. "Rather, I didn't mean it that way. What I should have said is that I have no interest in knowing the details."

"But..." she said, clearly curious about what he meant.

"You have to understand things are a bit different here. We are on the far side of the universe. The only contact we have with Earth is an alien technology which allows a person on either end to...transfer consciousness."

"The stones that were mentioned in the briefing yesterday, yes. You said you didn't want to use them, or Rumple did, I'm not..."

"It was a mutual decision, actually," he said. "We aren't certain exactly how they work. There would be no way to know which one of us would go through, or if we both would. Not to mention the pressure on the mind at the other end. Besides, there has been at least one case where a few memories bled over later, though as far as we know, it was the only time. This is not something we are either one ready to share with others, I am sure you will agree," he said, just a little bit of his bite back.

Belle nodded in agreement, and he found himself almost smiling before he pulled himself back. Rush knew a lot of things, and while antagonising this woman was absolutely a bad idea, he also knew he wouldn't let her in either. Instead he turned abruptly back to what he had been saying. "The important point, for us, here and now is this. The people here use them to visit their families," he looked significantly at her praying he didn't need to explain it further. He was no prude, but really, regardless of how he felt about it, it was practice here, and shouldn't bother him. That the mechanism was different in no way changed the situation, though he wondered how Gloria would have felt if a strapping young soldier showed up with his mind. Would he have even been able to do it?. "There is no explicit policy one way or another about..." he left it there, not wanting to explain that he had overheard some things. "Otherwise the crew would have no way of maintaining relations with their families."

"And you, Dr. Rush?" she asked. "Do you visit..."

"I don't make a habit of it, no. I've no one to visit," he said, hoping the words didn't sound as bleak as he felt they should. Rush realised that he needed to get away from this woman, at least for a while. He wasn't certain what it was, but she seemed to be able to see right through him, to get him to speak more freely than he had in longer than he cared to remember.

"No one?" she asked, looking at his hand, the wedding ring that he had never been able to take off.

He need to say something, to extricate himself. But he found something entirely different coming out of his mouth. "My wife...she died," he said simply. He rarely spoke of Gloria, certainly not to anyone who he had just met in circumstance that were odd, even for him.

"I am so sorry," Belle said. Before he could react as he usually did, with anger at the meaningless platitude, he looked into her eyes. What he saw almost broke him again, the way he had been so long ago. She meant it, she had legitimate sympathy for him, for a man who had lost his wife. This woman, he realised, she understood loss. Rush knew now that he desperately needed some space, before all his carefully contracted walls came down. He was not a man that got to know people, that got close to people. In fact, he tried his best to avoid it.

"Yes well, it was some years ago. I had my work..." Why was he still trying to explain himself to this girl who was nothing to him? Maybe it was a side effect of sharing his head with her husband, or something else, but he didn't want to allow himself to get dragged down that corridor. "So...perhaps you should get dressed and I...I will take you down for breakfast. I'm sure that they are going to find something for you to..." He stood suddenly and started towards the door. I'm not fleeing, he told himself, I am not afraid of this girl or her husband. If he told himself often enough, perhaps he would even believe it. He might have even made a proper escape if his mind hadn't been taken up with justifications. If he hadn't risen and promptly tripped on his own shoes, sitting neatly beside the bed. He tried to catch himself, and only just managed not to hit his chin on the nightstand (or whatever the correct term was for the shelf beside the bed on an alien vessel). What he failed to do miss the thing entirely, and the corner caught his tee shirt, leaving a visible rip. "Bloody hell," he cursed.

"Ru...Dr. Rush, are you alright?" the young woman said, scrambling over the bed to his side. He noticed looking up that she was wearing the tee shirt she had got yesterday from TJ with nothing else (or nothing that he could see or should be thinking about), over all a good thing she was wearing something.

"Fine," he said in disgust. "Just tore me shirt," he said, fingering the tear in disgust.

"I can mend that for you, if you have a needle and thread. It's not much, but at least I can do something." Rush, who, while he had a sewing kit that had been in his emergency go bag, could barely thread a needle, much less manage to sew something without it looking like it had been done by Dr. Frankenstein, took her offer. He rose a little more carefully this time, grabbing his jeans from where they were neatly (not by him, most certainly) folded at the foot of the bed.

"I'll get the kit and be back to take you to the mess," he said, before he retreated with his jeans and thermal shirt in hand, trying not to look like a teen aged boy having to sneak out of his girlfriend's room. In fact, that was more or less what he was doing. It would be...difficult, if he were caught in Belle's room but for some reason, he didn't want to undress, or rather dress in front of her.

Trying not to examine his reactions (which he realised were irrational) to the situation too closely, he slipped into his quarters and took a look at himself in the mirror over the basin. The only person in his mirror this morning was Dr. Nicholas Rush, at least for now, and of that he was grateful. The thought of having to try to unlock the secrets of the ship's core systems with the imp or whatever he was crawling around in his brain (or being in control) didn't sound like a recipe for a good day. The face that looked back at him didn't look as tired as he usually felt, so whatever he was up to last night, at least he'd caught up on his sleep. He looked at his watch, which more or less kept them on earth time. He'd slept for a solid 8 hours, something he didn't remember the last time he had done, not without some other cause. He was also clean shaven. That would last a day or two, he knew and with any luck he would have the other passenger out before he needed to shave again. First, he hated shaving and second, it annoyed Young to no end, rather the way his long hair did. The man wanted military order and discipline, Rush, he didn't get a rat's arse for either. Still, it was time to get back to work. Quickly, he dragged off the ripped shirt, pulled on his thermal undershirt and a cleanish tee shirt. Then he dug through his things, found the sewing kit as promised and with the damaged shirt in his other hand, went to get the woman.

"Ru...Dr." Belle said when the door opened.

"Sorry, hope I gave you enough time," he said. She was fully dressed in the same fatigues from yesterday. "Perhaps," he asked, as he motioned her into the hall with him. "Rush, you can call me Rush. Might be best, prevent any mistakes."

"Yes, perhaps that would be best," she said, just a little preoccupied. "I suppose I will be meeting more of the crew today. I...I'm...I don't meet a lot of new people," she said biting her lower lip.

"Thought you were the librarian, must be plenty of people who come in," he said, trying to be pleasant. He wasn't pleasant on the best days, not really. He hadn't even had his first cup of definitely-not-quite coffee this morning, and he generally hated mornings, stalking to the mess hall where he put down a bowl of whatever it was while working on calculations to take his mind off the taste before going (or more likely, returning) to the computer console room. Entertaining anyone wasn't in his nature, it was a bit like using a muscle that had long atrophied. But it was hardly Belle's fault. Of all of them, she was probably the only innocent involved, unless her taste in men counted.

"It's a very small town," she said, not knowing how much this man knew about their situation. Certainly Rumplestiltskin had explained or shared or whatever at least some of their background with him, though no more than he thought necessary, knowing him. Her love always played things very close, a habit that had led to almost all their most spectacular fights. But he had learned with her, for the most part. At some point they would have to figure it out. Right now, she allowed herself to be directed around the mess hall, given a bowl of...something, she wasn't sure what, and didn't really want to examine it too closely and took a seat across from Dr. Rush. Rush, that should be easy enough. Sitting this close, she could see the differences. He had neither Mr. Gold's still, cold facade, nor Rumplestiltskin's impish restlessness. But there was a coiled spring quality about him, as if he was just waiting for the next attack to come. She had seen that look, remembered it from the veterans of the ogre wars, the few who survived and from some children, those whose parents were too free with their hands. They learned, they rested, never trusted that a blow wasn't going to come. It made her wonder about his background, but now was hardly the time or the place to discuss that assuming he would discuss it with her.

Rush dug into his bowl of food, clearly looking at her and paying it no attention. "Sorry about the food," he said finally, as she picked a bit, grimaced and then tried another. No, it didn't get any better. No wonder he was paying attention to anything else even if it meant trying to have an awkward conversation with a meal companion he had not chosen.

"It's fine, it just..." Belle said softly, trying to be grateful for having something to eat, rather than focusing on the taste, or lack of it.

"Tastes like something that came out of the chemical store?" he asked with a smile. Belle almost laughed. he finished his up in minutes, and went to get another cup of not-coffee while she was still trying to choke it down. Maybe after a while your taste buds die? she thought. Or at least go into a coma? As she was sitting there contemplating those unhelpful thoughts the woman from yesterday, the medic, TJ walked into the mess.

"Can I join you?" the blond asked kindly. Belle nodded. She would prefer spending time with just Rush, as her only connection to her husband, but it wouldn't do to appear too attached. "What is that?" she asked, nodding to the shirt sitting next to her on the table.

"Dr Rush tore his shirt, I just volunteered to mend it for him. I know I need to make myself useful..."

"You can sew?" TJ asked, and seemed unnaturally pleased by it.

"Yes, of course I can. It's..." She paused. Her first thought was to say a necessary skill, which where she came from, it was. As a noble woman, she knew not only how to sew but how to embroider and other delicate forms of needle work. "My parents were believers in old fashioned skills," Belle said finally.

"Sorry, it's just, I'm not any good at it. It's sad, my father was a tailor, could make the most beautiful things, but I never got the hang of it. I can put stitches in a person, he taught me that, but that's exactly what my mending looks like. I tore the knees of my BDUs on a planet a few gates back, and what I did to them...well, its not holding."

Dr. Rush came over to join the seemingly excited medic with his cup in one hand and more water for Belle in the other. "Everything all right?" he asked as he took his place again. Belle looked at him and nodded.

"Camille," TJ called at their resident HR director came into the mess clearly looking for caffeine first. She nodded to them and wondered toward the food. "Just wanted to see how Belle was getting on. This can be a big transition for anyone." Rush nodded and Belle relaxed just a bit. If Rush was willing to let his guard down just a bit, then she should be fine. She would just have to trust him to help her until Rumplestiltskin woke up, possibly longer, especially as Rumple had as little idea about this as she did, though he had the advantage to sharing the scientist's mind.

The Asian woman joined them, as well, and though Rush usually ate alone or in company with his notebooks, he showed no sign of discomfort, or moving on. "Morning, everyone. Mrs. Gold, how was your night?" she was trying to be pleasant, and Belle smiled at her.

"Much better than where I was before, and it's Belle, please," she said honestly. "A bed was a good start, and Dr. Rush showed me the shower. It was...strange, but so nice to be clean."

"Well, as soon as we've had the morning meeting, you and I can figure out what to do with you."

"Of course, I will be glad to help until we can figure out how to get me back," Belle said, ignoring the looks that went around the table, or at least pretending to. She knew she had to play her part as well as Rumplestiltskin did. "For now though," she said, holding up her bowl. Belle rose, took over to where she noticed people dropping off their dishes and returned to the table to start mending Rush's shirt.

"Rush," Camille said in a low voice, looking pointedly at Belle. The whole crew had been doing their own mending along with a lot of other tasks that would usually be handled by the base and she wasn't about to let him take advantage of the girl.

"She volunteered," he shrugged.

"I did, I don't mind sewing and if it helps..."

Camille thought about it for a moment or two. She still needed to go over the woman's skill set, find out where she could be most useful, but for now, if she didn't mind, it was certainly something that some members of the crew could use, herself included. Besides, it gave Belle something to do while everything was reviewed that was much more useful than locking her in her quarters. "If you truly don't mind, at least until we can get you assigned, it would be a help," she said, thinking of her own less than stellar attempts.

Seeing that Belle seemed to be in good (and safe, at least he thought so) hands, Rush stood and came face to face with Colonel Young.

Young had entered the mess with just enough time to get breakfast before the morning meeting. The first thing he noticed was Mrs. Gold sitting comfortably with TJ and Camille, not at all surprising, the only surprise was that Chloe Armstrong wasn't there. The former senatorial aide was a naturally friendly person. The other surprise was in the form of Dr. Nicholas Rush seated across from her, and that was just not natural. Rush wasn't that social. It was even more of a surprise when he approached the table and noticed something...different about Rush, though he couldn't put a finger on it until the man stood almost nose to nose. He had shaved. As far as he remembered, the man hadn't shaved since they landed on Destiny, and he'd never been all that regular about it on Icarus. Still he decided not to mention it yet. Doing so would probably cause the man to go back to that beard he had been growing.

"Rush, Camille, TJ, and of course, Mrs. Gold, how are you this morning?" He smiled down at her, and reached out a friendly hand. Belle tensed just a little and smiled, though it was several degrees colder than it had been moments earlier. She hadn't forgiven him, not yet, and probably wasn't going to.

"Fine, Colonel," she said but her voice was also colder and the other two women noticed it immediately. "We were just starting to discuss my skill set, and where I can be of the most help."

"I'll put it out on the radio," Camille said to her, trying to get the attention off the younger woman. She could see the tension in the woman and knew immediately that the insult to her husband by the colonel had not been forgotten. "If you don't mind? Do you want to work in your quarters or I suppose you could stay right here, or even the observation deck, have you been up there yet?" she asked, trying to turn the conversation. She wasn't exactly sure, but she knew Young still didn't trust the woman and Belle didn't trust him any more. She didn't see why herself.

"Here is fine, if I'm not in the way, though I would like to see the observation deck. Dr. Rush has been kind enough to take me this far, but I am sure he has more important things to do. But if people have their own mending supplies, it would be tremendously helpful. This thread isn't going to last long," Belle said, ignoring the colonel in favour of checking Rush's emergency sewing kit.

"Turns out Belle can sew," Camille told the Colonel with a smile that was probably brighter than it needed to be.

"It's a skill we can certainly use," he said with a smile. "I definitely have some socks that could use it, my own attempts have been pretty awful..."

"Darned."

"Excuse me?" the Colonel asked torn between confusion and irritation. He wasn't exactly certain whether or not he had just been sworn at by the woman.

"Socks are properly darned not mended. I could do it, but I will need yarn for that and an egg," Belle told him calmly.

"Oh...um..." he paused to consider what she had said. "Well maybe there are some that are in too bad a shape? Sorry, I don't know much about this kind of stuff, I'm useless beyond sewing a button on. Maybe pass the word? Things that are to damaged and can be reused? I hate to put all this on you, Mrs. Gold. But we have been here long enough, and had enough problems that you are probably going to be pretty busy."

"I don't mind, I prefer to be kept busy," she said. She hadn't particularly warmed up to him, but at least she was being polite.

"Maybe we can figure out some kind of system," Camille said, already figuring the logistics. She was pretty certain most of the members of the military contingent had things that needed fixed, but they also had more chance of having a spare change of clothes. "After the meeting. Colonel," she said looking at her watch.

"Of course. I'll let you two handle that. But for now, if you all will excuse me, I'd like to talk to Mrs. Gold," Young said. "Alone," he added when no one seemed particularly inclined to move. He reached out to offer the woman a hand up.

Dr. Nicholas Rush felt the other consciousness slam awake inside him at an almost physical level. If he hadn't been sitting already he was pretty certain he would have fallen down. But none of that mattered at this exact moment. Rumplestiltskin was awake, and he was in control.

Rush scrambled in the back of his own mind, clawing against the metaphorical walls searching for some hold, some control. Right now his body was no longer his own (again) and the being that was in control was both angry and dangerous, not a good combination. If they were ever going to fix this, he had to find a way to make himself heard over the threat that the sorcerer perceived. It felt like prying nails out of a board with his teeth. While it seemed to take an eternity, it was really only moments, as he seemed to get through to the man, though he still was not in control of his body, at least Rumplestiltskin was communicating with him, possibly, hopefully listening to him.

"Colonel Young," Rush said quietly. "I doubt there is anything you need to say to Belle that can't be said in front of us." The words were calm, almost friendly...almost. Certainly there was more emotion in them than Rush usually managed for anything involving people.

"Dr. Rush, a word," Young said abruptly. "Just a moment, Mrs. Gold." He didn't like his authority challenged, something Rush did regularly. It could be argued that as lead scientist on the project, the good doctor has a certain amount of authority, but Young was inclined to act as if this was a strictly military operation. Rush pretty much only cared about the science. Then there was Camille Wrey, the self appointed leader of the civilians. It was much more complicated than it had to be, more than it would be if everyone would just accept that military leadership was what was best for all of them.

Rush rose slowly, looking at Young. Inside, the scientist was trying desperately to calm the imp. What had woken suddenly at the perceived threat to his lady was darker than anything he had experienced yesterday, and the scientist was having difficulty preventing himself from hiding in his own mind. Except that would make the situation worse. Rumplestiltskin clearly took Belle's safety seriously, in fact a little over seriously. At the moment, for daring to put an hand near her, the sorcerer was giving serious consideration to how much better both the mess hall and Colonel Young would look if the latter's internal organs were decorating the outside of his body.

It was only in looking at Belle that Rush felt the darkness recede, just a little. Rumplestiltskin was listening at least. It took only moments for Rush to explain the gist of his argument, and the reasons that he had come up with to prevent Young from being more suspicious than he already was. In the end, with a bit of quick internal debate they had a plan. Rush would sing him the song, but Rumplestiltskin would call the dance, still in control of the body, he wasn't about to respond to Young's subtle (and not so subtle) intimidation techniques. "What do you want, Colonel?"

"What do you think you are doing?" Young asked stepping into the shorter man's personal space. Rush, however, didn't move, or even blink.

"I think that Belle, Mrs Gold, doesn't like you, Colonel, not after you insulted her and her husband yesterday. I think that she's been traumatised by whatever happened to her to get her down on that planet, and she needs to trust someone. Fortunately that someone seems to be me, for some pretty obvious reasons. I also think that since it would benefit all of us to figure out what happened, you getting her back up again isn't going to help. So I am doing my best to treat her politely, showing her around a little, letting her get accustomed to her new surroundings before I start to question her. That's what I think I'm doing, Colonel," he said, stepping even closer to the man, though his voice never rose above a whisper. Instead Rush looked up at him straight in the eye, his accent thickening to the consistency of molasses as his irritation rose. Unsure what to do, Young stepped back.

"I just wanted to apologise to her," he said, trying to mentally regroup. He wasn't sure what it was that was making him react so strangely right now. Perhaps it was simply because he was accustomed to people responding more or less positively to him, where this woman seemed...not hostile exactly, but she wasn't trusting.

"I'd suggest you just do it. I doubt she'll want to be alone with you."

"But she trusts you?" Young asked, mocking.

"I have a certain advantage over you," the shorter man said arrogantly. "Belle trusts me at what you might call a visceral level regardless of what her logical mind tells her. I look like her husband, I sound like him and that is familiar to her." Young just nodded, trying to ignore the irritation that crept in, even while he acknowledged the logic of what the man said. He didn't have to like it. Besides, it was just a matter of letting her get to know him. He knew he could be charming, Rush on the other hand... The Colonel nodded absently to Rush and the two of them returned to the table. At least they had reached some sort of understanding, though he wasn't certain how he had actually agreed to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many many thanks to my Beta Robin4 for helping with this monster, despite signal problems and other things, and to all the readers who are keeping up, Hope you all enjoy. Please read and review, we all know that muses need to be fed.


	7. Something to do.

Belle Gold sat at the table in the mess hall (why they called it that, she didn't know but it was something to think on for later). She had just finished mending Rumple...Rush's shirt (Rumplestiltskin would never be caught dead in these clothes and she knew that. With her were Eli Wallace, the man she remembered Rumple (or Rush, and she was really going to have to figure out a way to sort, them at least in her own thoughts) yelling at yesterday. There was also Chloe Armstrong who, she gathered, was some sort of civilian that had got trapped with them on this ship. In fact there were a lot of them, something to do with an evacuation that hadn't gone the way they expected and landed the lot of them on this ship in an unknown part of the universe.

After Young's little semi private chat with the scientist, they had both returned to the table. Somehow she knew that Rumplestiltskin was once more awake in the other man's mind, though she wasn't sure how exactly. It was something about the way he held himself, the way he reacted to the arrival of the commanding officer. Rumple had always been a little over protective and she could see that the two men (well, three) didn't like each other. Young had returned to the table and apologised as carefully as he could.

"I'm sorry if I upset you yesterday, Mrs. Gold. We have to be careful, you know. We are out here pretty far beyond known space and well, you could have been anything, including some kind of shape changing alien."

"I suppose I am, in a way. An alien, that is, at least to the planet on which I was found. Of course, for all I know, you lot are the aliens, and this is all some kind of mad dream. You could ask me a million questions and I may or may not know the answers to. I know the date, for example or at least the date I disappeared from home, but I'm a little vague on how much time had passed. I tried to keep up though. It's all so very difficult." She was smiling as much as she could. The fact that neither her husband nor Rush trusted the man was apt to make her a little uncomfortable. But as soon as he had made his apologies, Young went off to get himself some of the revolting stuff they called food, and TJ left her with Camille to discuss how to implement her mending project. After a few minutes, Rush wandered off, saying she was in good hands, though she rather thought from the look in his eyes, that it was still Rumplestiltskin in control.

Soon enough they were joined by the other two, coming in for food before the morning meeting, which was apparently a regular occurrence. "So, you're from Maine?" the young man said as he sat down next to Camille with his bowl. "Eli Wallace, we almost met yesterday," he held out a hand and she took it. He seemed a friendly enough young man, younger than Bae but older than Henry.

"Belle Gold, just call me Belle. Yes, I'm from Storybrooke."

"Never heard of it," he said. "I was in Boston for a while at MIT but I didn't get out of the state much, or the city either.

"I've been to Boston. My husband took me to the theater there." He was easy enough to like, she thought.

"And I'm Chloe, Chloe Armstrong. I'm... sort of here by accident."

"There seems to be a lot of that," Belle said.

"Yeah, just not as exciting as you being here. Not like we get a lot of visitors," Eli told her. "So what was it like, getting transported across the Universe? Did you stumble on some kind of technology or..."

"Eli," Chloe said playfully. "Let her get settled in before you start the questioning." The young man had the good grace to look embarrassed.

"It's alright. As far as I know, I didn't but I don't know exactly how I got...well, where ever I was."

"We call it P5X 3489," Eli said. "That's just a designation number assigned by the computer though. Basically, we needed supplies, and the ship stopped at the nearest planet with a stargate that fit the parameters."

"What's a stargate?" Belle asked curiously, looking down to double check that her stitches were even.

"That big ring thing that brought you here from the planet. It establishes a wormhole in space that allows.."

"Enough, Eli." It was Camille that stopped him this time. "I'm not sure Belle is ready for a lecture on stargate technology. Not this early anyway."

"That's ok. Its fascinating. I didn't even realise it was possibly."

"I can tell you all about it later," Eli said, a little subdued. "How do you like it so far?"

"Well, I have been briefed, or is it debriefed?" she asked. "I've seen the infirmary, a conference room, been given quarters and had a shower. Considering the planet I was on had none of these things, it's been over all an improvement. I would like to get home though, I am worried about my husband." Suddenly no one was looking at her, and she knew that no one wanted to tell her that getting home might be impossible. Still, she was willing to bet her hopes on Rush and Rumplestiltskin. After all, it never did do to underestimate the Dark One.

"I heard your husband looks like Rush." Eli wasn't one to mince words, or rather he seemed the sort of young man who said what he thought regardless of what was on his mind.

"He does, though he walks with a cane, the result of an accident a long time ago. But there is some resemblance." Once more, she opened her locket. She had a feeling she was going to be doing that a lot around here. Everyone was curious. It helped explain some things.

"Wow," Eli said succinctly. "That's a little creepy. It's like alien clone kind of creepy. I suppose the thing about everyone having a twin is true."

"It's amazing," Chloe chimed in.

"Yes, it is a little disconcerting. But Dr. Rush has been so very nice about the whole thing."

"Rush, nice? Are you kidding me? Talk about alien body swapping."

"What do you mean?" she asked, anxious to get to know these people, to pick up clues as to how Rush was supposed to act and help him maintain their charade as long as possible.

"He's just not usually a friendly guy."

"I think he is charming," Belle said. "Maybe it's just he understands. I mean, having lost his wife. Though my husband's not..." She paused, trying to look appropriately worried. Watching every word wasn't exactly easy for her either. Fortunately Eli wasn't paying attention.

"Rush is married?" he said incredulously. "How did I not know that? I mean the man doesn't talk about himself much but you would think..."

"You never noticed his wedding ring?" Chloe asked, incredulously.

"I noticed. I just..."

"His wife died some years ago, before he joined the program. Cancer," Camille said quietly looking up from her paperwork. "I would imagine he doesn't want to talk about it."

That put an end to that subject quickly. The talk turned more general. When Eli found out she was a librarian, he wanted to ask her about which books by his favourite authors had come out while he was gone, and Chloe asked a few questions on the political situation 'back home', most of which Belle could answer. Storybrooke was more or less part of the world now, meaning that people came in and people left, though the residents always came back fairly quickly. Rumplestiltskin had been working on a way to get everyone home and no one wanted to be gone when it finally happened. Still it mean keeping up with things 'on the outside', and Belle had taken to reading the national news when the papers came in. Storybrooke had always been able to get things from the outside, even under the curse. People delivered things and then left, thinking nothing more about it that it was yet another quaint Maine fishing village, with no real difference from a hundred others. No one ever stayed, before Emma. For the rest, if people came looking for it, they would find nothing but an empty road leading to nowhere.

Still Belle enjoyed the chat, they seemed like nice enough people. More and more people were coming into the room and soon enough they were joined by Lieutenant Scott, who she remembered from the team that brought her up from the planet, and Greer, the big man that had been with them yesterday. The table was getting a little crowded, but so was the room.

The morning meeting was exactly what it sounded like. Young started off with a bunch of things that needed doing, or were being done, and asked for updates on some other things. He did mention he would be using the stones to report to Earth, an announcement that Belle heard with great interest. With any luck, they would check up on her story and find a way to let the people in Storybrooke know where at least she was. There had to be a way to let them know about Rumple too, but she wasn't sure exactly how to go about it yet, and made a mental note to talk it over with both of them later. There was some sighing and she gathered that some people were getting put out of their place in the queue for his report, but it seemed to happen often from their resigned tone. Then he introduced her. Belle had always hated being the center of attention but she did the brave thing, stood up and said a quiet 'hello'.

Then Young explained about her offer and turned the floor over to Camille, who had worked out a system for getting things mended and other wise repaired, and said she would have a sign up sheet ready by the end of meeting and started talking about priorities and supplies. Belle tuned the rest out. She finished the shirt, almost good as new. The mend would show, but it was neat and clean and she had made it look as nice as she could within the limits of her supplies. In a few moments, and after a couple more questions, the meeting broke up. People came over and introduced themselves to her, and got the details of how exactly to get their things mended.

"Miss...er Belle," Greer said quietly to her when there was no one around. The large man seemed a little bit ill at ease.

"Yes, Sergeant?"

"The mending I have, it's a little...personal," he said quietly. "I tried doin' it myself but I'm all thumbs with a needle and thread. Otherwise I wouldn't be trying to get you to do it."

"What is it Sergeant?" she said, having a pretty good idea what it was that could make the huge man blush like that.

"It's my skivvies, Ma'am," he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. "They're clean, I washed 'em out myself. But I tore 'em about two planets ago, and I only have a few pairs. I wouldn't..."

"It's alright, Sergeant Greer. I'm a married woman with a husband and a father who is also all thumbs. I've mended more than a few pairs of 'skivvies' as you call them, in my life." She smiled at him. The man, for all his threatening and pointing of guns seemed to actually be a bit shy under all the bluster. It was no matter. Besides, if it would get him on her side, she would gladly take care of his little problem, though not in the middle of the mess hall.

"Thank you, Ma'am," he said, with a smile.

"It's Belle, Sergeant."

"Everyone calls me Greer," he said and left her alone with Camille Rey, and her paperwork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this (and everything else) got held up a bit due to the need for two one shots that I just had to write (they can be found here under the names 'Devotion' and 'Aftermath'). Thanks to all of you who are reading and enjoying this story. Please leave reviews as they keep the muse fed. As usual, special thanks to Robin4 for beta and general story abuse. Also thanks for all the kudos, also helps the muse.


	8. Once around...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little trip around Destiny

Nicholas Rush and Rumplestiltskin left the mess hall with both haste and reluctance. Well, to be more specific, Rumplestiltskin left the mess hall. Nicholas Rush was still not in control of his own body, which was annoying. But there was very little he could do about it. He tried to think about how he would feel if Young had ever come near Gloria, or if he had showed any signs of being particularly intrusive into their marital situation. He came to the conclusion that he would have done much the same. The difference being, of course, that Rumplestiltskin had magic that could, once he had it back, tear the other man apart. Rush wasn't a weak man by any stretch of the imagination, and far stronger than people expected him to be. He was also a scrapper, the result of spending most of his life as the smallest bloke in any group. His father had called him a runt, and said he should have thrown him back and tried again, when he was sober. When he wasn't, he tended to lay about with his fists to 'toughen him up'. Rush wasn't bad in a down and dirty street fight, the kind that were common down by the docks where he came up, but against trained military men, he wasn't terribly useful. Words were his weapon. But right now there were more important things to do.

"It does matter if the ship falls apart before we get this sorted out," he told Rumplestiltskin as he stormed down the corridor, anger seeping through at having to leave Belle in a room with a man he didn't trust.

"Well, dearie, you had just best make certain that doesn't happen, now, hadn't you," Rumplestiltskin whispered to him threateningly. "At least until she and I are long gone. Then you may feel free to blow yourself up; it is of no consequence to me."

"Too kind," Rush grumbled. "The least you could do is give me my body back, at least for a while so that I can get some work done."

"Ah, but then I wouldn't be getting any work done, work involving getting my wife and I out of here."

"You won't get anywhere if they suspect you...me...us," he stuttered to himself in confusion. "So right now, let me get my work done. Please," he whispered.

"Very well, for now," the Sorcerer growled. "But first, show me where among the stars we are." The image in Rush's mind wasn't doing what he needed it to, their minds were just too different, the concepts around which they built their lives to divergent. "Then I can think, plan..."

"Dr. Rush, are you alright?" a young man in a military uniform was looking at him strangely.

Riley, the whisper from Rush supplied.

"Fine, Riley. Why do you ask?" Rumplestiltskin looked at the young man curiously.

Should have just told him to bugger off, Rush whispered from the inside. It's what I would have done. Now he really is suspicious.

"No...nothing, Dr. Rush, you were talking to yourself and you just seemed...a little distracted." Now that Rush was looking at him, Riley seemed to squirm even more, clearly wishing he hadn't said anything.

Rumplestiltskin twisted Rush's lips into a sour smirk. "Just thinking, something you should probably spend more time doing, or possibly...working?" With that parting shot, Rumplestiltskin hurried off.

Not bad, still should have just told him to bugger off, Rush whispered. They were going to have to be much more careful. It wouldn't do if Nicholas Rush was seen talking to himself, or talking to himself more than he usually did. In more or less accord for now, they made there way to the console room. The room was blessedly empty. Almost everyone was at the morning meeting, probably looking forward to meeting Belle, but that was a thought best not examined to closely. Rush himself avoided the meetings at all cost, only showing up when it was actually necessary, or when he thought that Young was going to make some kind of monumental mistake. Even then, he hovered around the edges, leaning against the corridor wall, lurking just out of sight. He didn't like crowds, and since he had got back from his sojourn with the aliens, he had been even less keen.

Rumplestiltskin had relinquished control for now, to allow Nick to get at least enough work done that their little project didn't get noticed. He called up the star charts and showed the imp their position, and where they were relative to Earth. At that, the creature subsided, probably curled up in a corner of his mind, wasting part of his mental processing capacity trying to figure out how to get himself and his wife home. However, since Rush wanted them gone just as much, he really didn't have any place to complain.

 

"I have no idea where she came from, Sir," Young said as he took the proffered seat in General O'Neill's office. He tried to get comfortable, but somehow wearing Telford's body never felt quite right, starting with the fact that while they both had a lot of mileage, it was different mileage. Where he had busted his knee in an explosion, Telford had an ankle that was slightly weaker from a bad landing after a jump. Probably they both had the same number of injuries, but the twinges in different places were making him uncomfortable. "But then according to her, she has none either."

"Something make you think otherwise?" O'Neill asked. "When we have come across these things in the past, they usually tried to convince us they belonged, but I take it that she is familiar to no one on the ship?"

"Not unless you count the fact that she is wearing a locket with a wedding picture of her and a man who looks like Rush's long lost twin, no. She says she's from Storybrooke, Maine, lives there with her husband. According to her, they were out for a walk when something happened and she woke up on the planet where we found her."

"I assume that..?"

"I sent the sergeant to run a check as soon as I came though, sir."

General O'Neill nodded, not the least surprised, or that there was a knock on the door about that time. It really didn't take a lot of time to check up on a missing person. The man came in with an apology and handed a few pages to the Colonel before excusing himself. "Well?" O'Neill asked.

"It seems there is a Belle French Gold, thirty one years old, missing from Storybrooke. Reported missing by the sheriff, one Emma Swan. Also, marriage license, to one Richard Gold, wedding announcement from the Storybrooke Mirror, transcripts from college, a copy of her original visa, and her paperwork when she became a citizen. It all looks right, but the pictures are a little blurry."

"You want to send someone to check up?" the General asked him. He had always been one to respect his officer's gut instinct.

"Actually, I think I would like to send some of my people, sir. No offense, but they have actually seen her, talked to her. They are more likely to notice something than a random Air Force officer."

"Ok, tomorrow?" the older man asked.

"That will be perfect, sir. I can have Johanson, and... maybe Greer."

"Greer? Isn't he a bit of a hothead?"

"He is, but he's spent some time with her, and he's a good man."

"Your command, your call. Just make sure he knows not to punch anyone again," O'Neill said, clearly dismissing him.

"Of course, Sir. Tomorrow then."

"Just tell Sergeant Bailey what you need, I have a meeting with the IGA tomorrow." Young suppressed his smile, knowing as well as anyone that O'Neill would rather be fighting half the Ori in the galaxy single handed than go into a meeting with politicians. He made his escape to set things up.

"My name is Belle Gold, I'm married...I really don't know why I am doing this. I suppose, I just have to say I miss my family, and I hope that they are alright," she asked.

"Tell us about your family, Belle," Eli said from where he was operating some kind of control device.

"Well, there's my husband, Richard...he's wonderful, very special. Then there is his son, Bae, Neal. He and his wife Emma, she is the sheriff, and they have a son called Henry. Then there is my father, he's a florist. But really, it's a very small town and I...I think I've said enough," she said. Suddenly she was very sad, and felt very alone. She wanted to run off and find Rumple, or even Rush, since he would be where ever the other man was. Chloe convinced Eli that it was enough and they left her alone with more understanding that she would expect. This was not really what she had expected when they had come to get her to take part in their little...project.

 

"Come on, It'll be fun," Eli had promised as he encouraged Belle to come with him. "Besides, everyone else has done one."

"Everyone else, even Dr. Rush?" She asked. Eli looked a little sheepish.

"Well, he did one, sort of...come on, please?" He asked and looked to Chloe Armstrong who was standing with him, begging silently for her help.

"We did all do them," Chloe confirmed. "Really, it's not that bad."

"But I'm not a member of the crew," she said, her final excuse. Somehow, she didn't think it would work, but it was worth a try.

"Come on, we'll do it in the observation room, you can bring that stuff with you. Besides you should take a break, or at least a change of scenery. Come on!"

"What if someone is looking for me?" Belle asked. He had a point, and taking up space with her mending where people are wasn't the best idea, but she didn't want to go back to her quarters alone.

"I have a radio," Eli pointed to the black thing hanging from his belt.

There was little else she could have said to that, which is how she'd found herself with the wonders of the universe out the window, and her talking to a floating ball.

 

That is an astrological symbol, Rumplestiltskin whispered, almost helpfully in the back of his mind.

"What the...?" Rush growled.

"Something wrong, Dr. Rush?" Park asked, looking up from where she was working on the other side of the room.

Both men looked at her sharply and she turned back to her work without a word. It was not out of character, not really, for Rush to talk to himself, but considering his current situation, he knew he should probably avoid it, especially out loud where either of them could be heard. Instead of answering, he reached out to the control console and touched one of the symbols that was scrolling past. Yes, that one. And those are alchemical, I...

It can't be that...it's not possible, he told Rumplestiltskin.

You may understand this science, boy, the sorcerer spat out at him. But I've been working in magic and magical symbolism since your great grandparents were not but a sloppy possibility.

You can't be...

You're right, it was probably before their great grandparents were a memory, he said back with a snap. They might mean something different here, but I am betting there is at least some similarity of meaning. Our worlds are different, but some things are not as different as they seem. There was nothing to say to that. Instead, Rush started copying off symbols, perhaps there was something he was missing. Of course he had never expected to get it from a magical imp sharing his head. But the less he thought about that, the better, and instead, started taking notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Robin4 for the beta. I am now on Tumblr, under Rioghna7, so come and find me. Thanks for reading, and you know what to do. THe Muse loves comments, reviews, creative insults only please.


	9. Meeting someone new

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Belle meets someone new

"So this woman just appeared on the planet? How does that even happen?" Colonel Telford asked as he hurried through the ship.

"We don't know, Sir. That's why Col. Young went back to Earth, to report and check up on her."

"And where is this alien?" he asked, grimacing as Young's still healing leg tried to keep his pace.

"She's not an alien. TJ ran a scan and she's as human as we are. That's the weird part, well one of the weird parts," Scott said as he followed behind. It was one of the things he hated about the Colonel reporting in, he was stuck with Telford. The man seemed to live on the other side of the communications station always seemed to have a different way he wanted things done for the hour or so he was in charge of the body. Usually at least Young was back before he could do anything too drastic, but he'd had a couple spectacular failures as well.

"Fine, where is this not alien stranger, Leutinent?" he said, pausing in the middle of the corridor.

"She was in the mess hall, Sir. She volunteered to do some mending for the crew while Camille figures out what to do with her. Belle's a small town librarian so not exactly a useful occupation to have here. I think every book on the ship would take her about an hour and half to catalogue, if she was doing it with a paper and pencil. We are a little short on reading material."

"Why isn't she in the brig or confined to her quarters? What is wrong with you people? She could be dangerous." Scott didn't say anything at all, just picked up his radio.

"This is Scott, does anyone have eyes on Belle Gold?" he asked.

"This is Becker in the Mess, Sir. She left here with Eli and Chloe, they were going to Observation to record her on kino."

"Thanks Becker. Eli, are you still on the Observation deck?"

"Just finished, she did great. I'll..."

"Just tell her to stay there, Colonel Telford and I are on our way to you. He wants to meet her."

"Bloody Hell," Nicholas Rush cursed. He had been halfway through his search with Rumplestiltskin when he heard the radio chatter. He usually tuned it out, but the imp had picked up at least some of it, the mention of his wife and Colonel Telford.

"Who is this Colonel Telford?" he whispered in the back of the other man's mind.

"Military pain in my arse is who he is. Not someone we necessarily want near Belle," he was already moving toward the door. Neither man seemed to notice that Rush had called her by her first name, or the surprise on the face of Park as they left the room.

Alone, Park wondered briefly if Rush was finally losing it for good. He had been muttering to himself more than usual before he had left the room. But since she had the place to herself for a moment, she figured that it didn't matter what the irascible Scot was doing. She got more work done when she was left to her own devices, and if she wasn't finished by the time he got back he probably would notice, and then she would be the one he was angry with. Park didn't mind the man so much, but his temper was legendary.

"So, this is going to be a little weird, Belle, even for here. There is a guy coming up to see you. He's going to..." Eli didn't get any further when the doors opened, and they turned to see Colonel Young striding toward them.

"Colonel Young," Belle greeted him with the same icy courtesy she had this morning.

"No, I'm not," The man said. She could see that he held himself somewhat differently and it was unnerving, rather like looking at Rumplestiltskin when Rush was in control. He didn't...move right for lack of a better description. "I'm..." The doors opened again, cutting him off and he looked toward them irritated at being interrupted.

"Colonel Telford, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" Rush asked, glaring at the man.

"Rush, what are you doing here? I thought you didn't leave the console room." Belle looked back and forth between the two (three) men sizing each other up in front of her.

"Well, according to the medical officer, I'm required to actually eat the slop they serve us here more or less regularly, so I came to escort Mrs. Gold to the Mess hall." He smirked at the other man, as if daring him to question his reasoning further.

"That won't be necessary. I'm here to question..."

"What?" Eli asked, putting his two cents in. "Belle was questioned yesterday when she arrived on Destiny."

"Exactly, when she, an alien of unknown origin was brought aboard this ship from an unknown planet on the edge of the galaxy. Why is she allowed to wander around the ship?" Telford asked. Now that she was looking she could see the difference more clearly. While Young tried for charm, Telford was actively hostile, not only to her, but apparently to Rush and pretty much everyone else as well.

"She's not wandering around the ship," Rush pointed out. "She's been here with Eli and Chloe, I gather filming one of his little introduction clips on the kino and mending..." he peering down to see what she had in her lap, exaggerated movements making it clear he was mocking the other man. "Someone's trousers. That is hardly 'wandering the ship'."

"Doctor Rush, you are in charge of the science team, this is a military matter. I hardly think..."

"Well, that is the truth at least. You don't think. Perhaps it is best we take this conversation into the hall," Rush growled. Usually he had no problem telling people what he thought of them no matter how public, but at the moment, he was going for pleasant. Chloe and Eli both wondered at his reaction but said nothing. If there was one thing that everyone agreed on, it was that Telford was a problem. Almost every time he had shown up, he had tried to change things, and not for the better.

"I don't think so. I don't take orders from you, Dr. Rush. I give them, and right now I am ordering a security team to take this woman into custody."

"I have a name, you know," Belle spoke up, rising to her full 5'2" and glaring at him with that look that had the most unruly children in Storybrooke (and several of the adults) tripping over their tongues in their haste to apologise. She wasn't certain how much time she had, but Belle did know one thing. This man was dangerously close to death. Rush only seemed to be in control, but behind the facade, she was fairly certain a war was raging, and she knew exactly who would come out on top. The best thing she could do was try to ease the tension, and the best way to do that, was to make it clear that she would not be intimidated. "We have not been properly introduced, I am Mrs. Belle Gold," she held out her hand to Telford, as if he hadn't moment's ago been threatening her.

"So you say," the man said to her, ignoring her polite gesture.

"Well, I would give you my driving license but I don't have one and if I did, it would be with my purse, wherever that is. I gather that you are actually here...in Colonel Young." There was a question in her voice but when she looked at the people standing around her, they just shrugged. What was the grammatically correct term for being the consciousness in someone else's body? "Because Colonel Young is on Earth, trying to establish my identity, and hopefully letting my family know that I am safe."

"Your family?" Telford said, almost as if the concept was beyond him.

"Yes, I have a family, they are back on Earth, at least I hope they are, they most certainly were when...whatever happened to me...occurred. This has all been very disturbing," she said softly. Dr. Rush moved to stand near her, as did Chloe and Eli. It was clear to Telford that whoever or whatever this woman was, at least part of the crew had come over to her side. What he didn't know what was that side was. That Doctor Rush was one of them didn't help matters, in his opinion. He didn't like Rush and the feeling was more than mutual. The medical reports said she was human, Earth based human at that. He didn't believe it, though. It was impossible, after all.

"Well, right now, I want some answers and since I am in charge at the moment, we are going to get them." The door slide open. Apparently the word of Telford's presence and his usual mission to make life difficult for everyone was spreading. Sergeant Greer came through and went straight over to Belle, ignoring pretty much everyone else in the room.

"Miz Belle, I brought those things for you," he said smoothly, taking in the positions of everyone. He liked Belle: she seemed a nice lady.

"What is that, Greer," Telford asked suspiciously.

"Bag of odds and ends, Sir. Miz Belle needed some things for patches, thread and stuff. People have been going through their gear. Got some tee shirts too torn to mend, couple pair of BDU's and one of Becker's aprons, he says if you can use it to fix the other one, he'd appreciate it. Don't think it will make your food any better, but he'll be real appreciative." The last bit directed to Belle as she opened the sack and pawed through it.

Telford reached out to grab it from her, but Rush moved to intercept him, with surprising speed. Honestly he couldn't have said at that moment which one of them was in control, but between his dislike of Telford and the imp's love of his wife, a woman that he was starting to appreciate for her compassion and kindness if nothing else, there was no way he was going to allow that man near her. It shouldn't have surprised him that Belle had managed to conquer the big sergeant already, but then the guy always had a bit of a Galahad complex.

But before the situation could deteriorate any further, Telford closed his eyes. He started to stumble a bit, and Greer reached out to catch him. Colonel Young was back. "What am I doing here?" he slurred just a little as he tried to get comfortable again in his body. "Or should I ask what was Telford doing here?"

"Colonel Telford seems to have decided that Belle is some kind of threat to the ship, some kind of dangerous alien invader." Rush's voice was harsh, biting each word off as though it had personally insulted him. Belle giggled at the idea, and so did Chloe. Even Greer had to hide a bit of a smile.

"He wanted to interrogate her," Eli put in. "Like she was some kind of prisoner. Then he tried to go through the stuff that..." Young held up his hand to stop the flow of words. He didn't need to know what Telford had gotten up to while he was in his body. It didn't take a whole lot of imagination to figure it out. Nor did it take a room full of people who seemed to be surrounding their visitor, to make it clear that she had already made a place for herself on this ship. It was good, in that she would not be a source of contention in this complicated dynamic. On the other hand, it could be awkward if she turned out to be other than what she said.

"I'm sorry if he made things uncomfortable for you," Young said politely. He wondered what it was, but he could see there was definitely something different about the way that Rush looked at her. But right now he had bigger things to worry about than the scientist's potential infatuation. "Now, everyone back to work. Greer, I need you and TJ in my office in ten." He turned on his heel and left the room, thinking about all the work he had and hoping that they had kept Telford contained while he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I am not sure where this came from but I couldn't resist. The question is, how long can she and Rush keep it up? Thank you to those reading. Comments greatly appreciated. Next chapter will include jealousy and Greer's skivvies.


	10. Domestic Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dealing with Rush, the crew and Greer's drawers.

The group broke up then. Greer had followed Young out the door, with a look at Belle that suggested he wanted to double check that she wasn't too distressed. Eli took one look at Rush, realised that he was supposed to be on duty and that the scientist would probably remember than at any moment, and excused himself. Chloe, on the other hand, seemed content with their company and decided to join them in the mess hall.

Rush said very little until they were almost finished and Chloe got up to take her dishes away. "Could stand to have my wife to myself," he growled quietly.

Belle laughed quietly. "Later," she said. Inwardly Rumplestiltskin groaned and Rush tugged at him to get back to work. Socialising wasn't like him, and Belle, being the first new person they had seen (not including aliens, and at least in this part of the universe, the aliens were really very alien) since they arrived, she had a certain amount of ship wide celebrity. But as he rose, Belle rose with him.

"I should get back to my mending," she said excusing herself. "Dr. Rush, I don't want to impose, but could you point me back to the Observation deck?" she asked politely.

"It's actually on my way, more or less. I'll make sure you are going in the right direction, if you can tear yourself away," he said, the slightly acid tone was much more in keeping with his usual behavior, enough so that everyone suddenly found they had other things to do. "Much better," he growled once they were in the corridor. "Like some kind of bloody side show." Belle laughed just a little as he led her down an empty corridor. "I am glad that things are working out so well, but I wish people would leave us in peace."

"We have tonight," she whispered, looking around carefully. "If Dr. Rush doesn't mind."

"He won't. I've managed to show him something he hadn't seen before. He'll be more than willing to, shall we say, turn over control?" And if he isn't, I will convince him, he thought.

Still here, you know, the Scottish scientist whispered back, having retreated to the back of his own mind after the confrontation with Telford to contemplate what these new things meant to his understanding of the core programs.

Unfortunately. Surely you won't be difficult over this, not after the help I have given you? There was an implied threat in those thoughts, and Rush wasn't about to challenge him, not on this, not yet anyway. They could fight about that later, after he figured out how much the creature knew and what use it was. Instead of answering he retreated back into his own thoughts.

"So the question is more a matter of your room or mine?" he said with just a bit of the jauntiness that he had displayed in the old world.

"Best be mine, I'm pretty certain it's safer. You have plenty of reason to visit me after all," she whispered back, and then, after carefully checking around them, pressed a kiss to his cheek just as his radio began barking at it him.

Pointing her toward the Observation Deck, he was already growling back into the radio. She watched as the annoying black box dragged her love and Dr. Rush away from her, one of them more willing than the other.

She spent most of the afternoon on the Observation Deck, looking at the stars while she tended to torn knees on BDU's, split seams, and at least one burn hole. But the work wasn't going as fast as she would like. Much like the mess hall, people were still coming up to talk to her, introduce themselves, even ask some questions. It was becoming increasingly difficult to get anything done. She was pretty certain that while this was a necessary task, once she had it caught up, there would be far less to do, but by that point, Camille would probably have found something else for her to do. Either that or, she hoped fervently, Rumplestiltskin would have found a way to get them back home. This was an interesting adventure at least in some ways, but when it came to a choice of adventure over being so very far from home, on a spaceship that had the potential to fall apart, she would take home. Then there was sharing her husband, or whatever this was. Belle had never imagined sharing Rumplestiltskin with anyone else, at least not in this fashion. She wondered what she would do if it were her sharing someone else's body.

Chasing those disturbing thoughts away, she sat down on the edge of the bed in her room, and settled down to mending some of the things people had asked her about that were more sensitive than others. Suffice it to say, Greer wasn't the only one who needed his 'skivvies' mended, though the rest had all been women. She wondered exactly how many men on the ship were running around with holes in places they would rather not mention to a strange woman. Carefully, she looked over the not particularly wide selection of threads and chose a small needle, and picked up Camille Wray's bra.

She wasn't exactly sure how long she had been at it, but Belle had managed to reduce the 'not appropriate for mending in public places' pile down to just Sgt. Greer's boxer-briefs, yet another strange garment of this new world that she did quite understand, when there was a muffled bang on the compartment door. As she was fairly certain only one person knew where she was sleeping in this ship, she called for them to enter as she carefully made another stitch in the stretchy fabric that wasn't all that easy to mend.

"Belle, are you..." Rumplestiltskin asked as he entered her quarters, door closing behind him. He wanted to take her to the mess for a bowl of...well, whatever it was, before it was too crowded and then drag her back to her quarters. He had held off enough, and if he had to go much longer without her in his arms, he thought he might do something unfortunate. Spending the day working with Rush on the ancient systems, getting interrupted regularly by questions and problems, some actually important, some not, had him feeling slightly more murderous than usual. He rounded the bed, not the least surprised that she was still at the mending, from what he had seen of these people certain basic skills were severally lacking. But he didn't expect to find his wife mending those. A rush of offense or jealousy or possibly both pulsed through him burning like a spell rebounding. "What are you doing, dearie?' Rumplestiltskin asked, his words slow and very, very careful.

"Mending these," she said giving him a quick smile as if it was nothing unusual. "I'll be finished in just a moment, and then..."

"Why?" he asked, and this time she couldn't help but catch the edge in his tone. Carefully couching her needle, she looked up. He was glaring, not at her, but at the garment she was currently attending. If asked, he couldn't completely explain why but the thought of his Belle reduced to this, not to mention the idea of one of those filthy men wearing something that had been mended by her hands, possibly picturing... Stop right there, Rush whispered. I don't need that image any more than you do.

"Because I agreed to. It's nothing but a bit of mending."

"And who, exactly, are you mending for?"

Belle looked down at the garment in her hand, then back at her husband, trying to figure out what it was that was bothering him. "These are Sergeant Greer's, not that it matters."

"It does matter, actually. It's one thing for you to mend tee shirts and aprons, but this...this is too much. I won't have my wife mending another man's...knickers," he spat out, being deliberately derisive. It didn't help that he wasn't certain about Greer. Rush didn't like him or trust him, but they had been antagonising each other since the first moment, apparently. From what he could glean from memories, Greer tended toward the shoot/punch/blow up school of dealing with problems, frequently without bothering to find out if that was the right thing. Also he was pure military, he didn't respond well to the scientists, any of them, and especially Rush. But Rumplestiltskin had also seen the way he had been with Telford. Belle had charmed the big man, and he was certainly not going to object to someone else who would protect his lady.

"Rumplestiltskin," Belle said putting down her work and looking up at him. "Everyone here has something they are assigned to do. I have mending some of the female crew members knickers, and other underthings. If you had come and found me mending TJ's knickers or Chloe's bra, would it have bothered you?" she asked. Rumplestiltskin sighed, and in the back of his mind, Rush tuned out, turning his thoughts to different things, and wishing the damn man would give him control at least of his hands if they were going to have these sorts of conversations, the sort that someone else ought not be privy too.

"That is different, you are my wife!" he said, realising it was the wrong answer even as he said. it.

"Oh, so it's okay for me to mend your...skivvies," she said angrily, borrowing Greer's perfectly good word. "You aren't objecting that mending is beneath me, but the form it takes. Anything but another man's underthings?"

"Yes, no..." he paused. His headache had come back and arguing with Belle wasn't getting him anywhere, especially when he was having some difficulty actually making out his argument. Rumplestiltskin took a deep breath. Belle was looking up at him, one eyebrow raised, waiting. "Belle," he said, and she gestured for him to sit down next to her. "Do I like the idea of you being forced to work like a servant here? No, not at all, you should be back in Storybrooke, or even back in our own world. But I got you into this. That is one thing. But that you should have to mend strange men's underthings..." he couldn't quite find a good way to express himself. A man of words, this situation was robbing him of that.

"Rumplestiltskin, you know I don't mind the work," she said quietly, putting her hand up to cup his cheek. "It isn't even the first time I have had to do this. Bae..."

"He's our son," he said without thought. It didn't matter than he was older than Belle, that she had not been bound to their family until well after Bae was an adult, from the moment Rumplestiltskin had acknowledged that he loved her, he had always considered she was the mother that Bae should have had. Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if he had met Belle then, what their lives would have been but that was for another time.

He remembered when they had returned from Neverland he had urged Bae to move out of Granny's and into the big old house with he and Belle. Bae had still been sorting out his relationship with Emma, and once he had, there was still the issue of the apartment that she shared with Mary Margaret, and David once the curse had broken was far to small for all of them. For the first time since he had been a teenager, Rumplestiltskin had his son under his roof. Belle taken to it with no difficulty, though he still had a housekeeper, saying he wouldn't have her inconvenienced by having to tend the large house. But it had been an interesting disruption to his relatively quiet life. Belle had moved back in while they were away, so they had still been learning to live together as well. He had never thought about her doing his mending, though. Frankly, in Storybrooke he'd not thought to be jealous, not in that way. Of the time she gave others, most certainly, she was the same with him, but not of other men. That the men of Storybrooke would be far to afraid of him to come near her wasn't actually a part of the calculations.

"Rumplestiltskin?" Belle asked and he realised he had been lost in thought for longer than he realised.

"I'm sorry love. I'm out of sorts, and I don't like the idea of you as some kind of servant here, or anywhere else for that matter. To see you doing that...the intimacy of it bothers me," he said finally.

"You have nothing to be jealous of, Rumple, you know that. Honestly I don't think he would even consider thinking about it that way. Poor man was far to embarrassed at having to ask. Having seen his attempted repairs, I'm surprised they survived at all, but I thought it would be best to mend all the underthings here in privacy. I love you, Rumple, you know that," she leaned up and kissed him, long and deep.

"And I love you," he said, repeating the first words he had said to her after the curse broke and confessed her love for him. It was their way of reconnecting. But he pulled back when she started to kiss him again. It was too easy to forget, to get lost in her. But Rush was still awake in the back of his mind, reminding him that if he didn't bring her for dinner, one of her new friends was bound to notice and come looking for them, and it really wouldn't do for them to be caught. At best he would be accused of inappropriate behavior and they would try to keep him away from her 'in her best interests', at worse they would be caught out and the situation would get more awkward. "Dinner, my love."

"Must we?" she asked with a look of distaste. The food was at the very least awful.

"I'm afraid so," he said, no more interested in actually eating the stuff than she was. "But afterward, perhaps we can come back here.." he trailed off, stroking one finger down the side of her face.

"What of Dr. Rush?" she asked, looking at him a little awkwardly. It wasn't that she didn't want it. She wanted her love desperately, but even with Rush's reassurance this morning, she wasn't certain.

"Bugger Rush," he whispered as he returned to kissing her. Not if you were the last whatever you are in the universe, came the voice from the back of his mind absently. If I spend some time letting you engage your overactive sex drive, then perhaps you will be kind enough to go to sleep and let me get some bleeding work done.

"Rumple..." she said warningly.

"Dr Rush has kindly agreed to an early evening, for him." They had spent a small part of the day actually trying to figure out the details of their rather unique situation. Certainly it didn't take more than a moment to figure that only one of them could control the physical side of things, and Rumplestiltskin knew that he could wrest control away as easily as he used magic, a combination of age and will. Not the Rush was weak willed, far from it, but the canny sorcerer was taking full advantage of the fact that the entire situation was far more difficult for the scientist to get his head around. They had also figured out fairly quickly that it was perfectly possible for one of them to be consciously thinking on one thing without the other being aware. They could sense each other's presence, of course, but it was like background noise, unless one was asleep, which at least to Rush felt like a kind of mental silence, peace even. But while they had certainly managed to figure out enough to make the situation workable for now. Nothing about the situation was ideal, but for now it would do, until they had a chance to work it out.

"Thank him for me?" she said, not exactly sure how to address the man inside her beloved's mind, or rather the man who was sharing his body with him. She still didn't want to think to much about it.

"It will be alright, I promise," he whispered with one final kiss, and then, after helping her put what she had designated 'private' mending back into the various bags they had come in. It still bothered him, but at least she was doing it in private. Then he ushered her out of the room reluctantly and toward yet another tasteless meal in the mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as usual to Robin4 for her beta and bouncing ideas off her, without her, this story wouldn't happen. Right now I am living without electricity in the biggest city in the world due to waiting on an electrician, so my posting may be a bit erratic. Please, keep reading and all comments welcome. It keeps my spirits up during a time of great stress.


	11. Private Moments

Once again in the mess hall and once again he found his wife the center of all the attention. Nicholas Rush had never been a particularly popular man, here even less so. In fact the only time he had ever been the center of any real popular attention was after Young had left him behind and he had returned from the dead, rescuing Chloe Armstrong in the process. He hadn't been particularly comfortable with it then, and now, as Rumplestiltskin wanted his wife to himself anyway, he decided he was unnecessary and retreated to the back of his own consciousness, leaving the other man in his body to deal with all the pesky attention. Rush might have been amused, but Rumplestiltskin was not.

He sat at the table, watching Belle and trying to ignore the...food, for lack of a better word. He wasn't certain what it was, but he was certain that Charming and his wife had fed him better when he was a prisoner in the mines beneath their castle. "Does the food get any better?" Belle was asking her audience, this time consisting of Scott, Greer (she had made quite the conquest there, useful as long as he remembered his place) Park and Wray. Camille Wray seemed to be watching her, as if she was trying to figure her out, but that was the thing about Belle, she was never anything but herself. "No offense, Corporal Becker?" she said to the young man who was walking by. "Is it Corporal? I'm a little vague on all these military things."

"Just Becker is fine, Ma'am. I don't take it personally. I know what the food is," he said before returning to mixing up another bowl of paste for the newly entered Colonel Young.

"Sometimes we find food on a planet, though whether it's edible...remember those potato things?' Park asked. Everyone laughed, and started trying to tell the story of the very strange foods they had found on some of the planets.

Rumplestiltskin ignored them, instead he sat contemplating Rush's notebook, occasionally making note of a symbol the other man had missed while trying to ignore the food and still keep his attention on Belle, or rather he was until Young came into the room. With the presence of the commanding officer, his attention was further split, not trusting the man one bit and less since he had learned the details of what happened with Rush. Not that he blamed the man, or not completely, he rather wished he could leave the other man somewhere. Still, leaving a man to die alone on a planet with little hope of life was wrong. Better to kill him outright; that was what an honourable man did. He was not an honorable man himself, but he knew how they should behave, and with Belle he was trying. Also, he didn't like the way the man looked at his wife. Belle was beautiful, he knew that, anyone with eyes knew that. Young was a man, therefore not to be trusted.

"Dr. Rush," Young said, as he approached the table.

"Hmmmm," the man wearing Dr. Rush's body said, looking up distractedly from the notebook in front of him as if he had been paying no mind to what was going on around him.

"And Mrs. French, looks like you have caused quite a stir here on our little ship," he said with a smile that was probably meant to be charming.

"To tell the truth, Colonel Young, it's a bit overwhelming. I've not been the center of attention since Mary Margaret asked me to chair the Miner's Day celebration two years ago."

"Miner's Day?" Young asked curiously, on the look out for any new clues about their strange guest.

"It's a local celebration," Belle told him. "The usual small town sort of thing, crafts booths, performances by the grade school children, musicians, like a carnival."

"Ah," he said. He was vaguely aware of such things still existing though as a military man, he'd never lived in the kind of place that had one. As he was opening his mouth to say something, one of the civilians came over and handed Belle a bag with yarn and a couple of knitting needles sticking out of the top.

"Here, Belle, I was told you needed yarn. I brought it with me to Icarus, thought I would teach myself to knit but never got around to it."

"This will do nicely, thank you Katherine. I can help you with that knitting, when I am done, and if I have any left. Now all I need is an egg," she said with a bright smile. Katherine Sanders, now Young remembered, one of the botanists, she was helping in hydroponics.

"Good luck with that, we haven't seen anything that even resembles a chicken," he said, confused by what an egg had to do with yarn. Next to Belle, Rush barked out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" he asked the scientist sharply.

"Wrong egg, Colonel, darning egg, it's a small wooden or stone egg used to darn socks. Can probably find you a ball bearing or something that can do the trick, Belle," he said his attention already back on the notebook in his hand.

"Oh, and how do you know that?" Young asked. He was rather hoping that the woman would tell him he was wrong, but she just nodded.

"General knowledge and life skills, Colonel, besides, my gran used to darn socks, knit them as well," he said with a smile that seemed different somehow.

"Why would anyone want to knit socks when you can just buy them at Walmart for like $2.00 a pair?" Scott asked, clearly confused.

"Not like we have a choice about that here," Rush said. "How do you think people got socks before they were available at the Walmart, or when a good pair was more dear? My grandmother grew up knitting socks for the family. Used to be something that everyone did. Fortunately for you all, Belle has the skills. You can't exactly just sew up the hole, won't wear well, and I'd imagine the stitching wears into your foot a bit. Perhaps you could ask Belle to teach a class," he said. There was something about his tone that Young didn't like, but when was that anything new? From the way Camille Wray was looking at Colonel Young, he wondered what the civilian liaison knew that he didn't.

"Maybe we should, but for now, Rush, can I talk to you?" The colonel asked.

"Thought we were talking," Rush said as he started to stand. Mrs. Gold looked at him, but he just smiled at her, or as much as Rush ever smiled and followed the larger man into the corridor. He was half wondering why Rush was being more accommodating that usual and if it had anything to do with the visitor. Surely he wasn't taking advantage of the physical similarity to her husband? The thought was fleeting, as far as he knew, the only woman that he had ever heard of Rush caring about was the wife he never mentioned who had died, though he still wore his ring. Beyond that he had never known Rush to so much as look at a woman as anything more than a colleague, if that. Certainly he treated the female members of the crew with the same level of discourtesy he treated everyone else. Young had to hand it to the man, he had equal treatment down to a science, he hated everyone equally. "What is it Colonel? I've some calculations I could be working on."

"What have you found out about Mrs. Gold?" he asked, not giving the man time to dial up the sarcasm any more than usual.

"She seems a nice enough woman," he said with a shrug. "If she knows more than she is telling, she certainly shows no sign of it. She has been a hit with the crew."

"Tomorrow, I'm sending a couple people to use the communication stones to check her story. So far everything looks on the up and up, but TJ and Greer will be able to tell us better when they report back."

"Lieutenant Johanson, I can understand, but why Greer?" he asked, though he didn't seem to be challenging the colonel.

"They have both spent time with her, they should know the right questions, and some of the answers. Unless you want to go, you seem glued to her."

"No, no, I have too much work to do here. I've hardly been glued to her, just trying to figure out how she got here in the first place. But it's not as if I've time for babysitting, or for doing background investigations for that matter, now, if you will excuse me, I did promise her I would show her how to get back to her quarters, she's having a wee bit of trouble navigating."

"Not babysitting?" Young said with more sarcasm than usual. Sarcasm almost never worked on Rush, it was his weapon, after all.

"Yes, well, I can hardly help my face, now can I? A day or two and she'll know the place well enough to get round on her own. Then maybe I can get some bloody work done without interruption." With that wholly Rush exit line, the scotsman left him standing alone in the corridor.

"A lot of work," Young said to himself out loud, shaking his head as he returned to the Mess hall. Mrs. Gold was rising from her place at the table, despite the requests that she stay, or join any of the other activities that people got up to on the ship when they were off duty. But she gently turned them all down, pleading weariness and a desire to finish just a few more of the mending jobs she had before she turned in. What he didn't fail to notice was the way that Rush guided her with his arm, not touching exactly but much more physically familiar than he expected the man to be. Perhaps Rush wasn't exactly what he thought he was. He would be the first to admit he didn't understand the man. But that was for later. Now it was another bowl of...whatever it was, and then back to a pile of reports. Halfway across the universe and still the paperwork followed him. For a moment Young wondered what would happen if those crates of blank paper 'accidentally' got misplaced. No, he thought to himself, Telford would just take it upon himself to turn the ship up and down looking for it, looking for any reason to have throw doubt on Young's fitness to command.

Once they were outside the mess, Rumplestiltskin hurried Belle towards her quarters. He thought he managed pretty well, keeping Young on the wrong foot and his answers vague and general. Fortunately for him, well for them, Young, while not a complete idiot, knew exactly nothing about what Rush did, or how it all worked. All he cared about was that it did what he wanted, when he wanted. It mostly irritated Rush, especially when he asked for something completely impossible and then couldn't understand why it couldn't be done. However, right now he had other plans. Before TJ and Greer left tomorrow, they had to figure out how to get at least some kind of message to his son and the rest of Storybrooke. They had got very good at keeping the town safe and boring enough to stay under the radar, the last thing they needed was the Air Force poking around.

"What's the hurry?" she asked but the smile on her face let him know exactly what was on her mind. Perhaps worrying about TJ and Greer could wait, he though briefly as she laid her hand on his arm, well, Rush's arm. She seemed to have adapted well to the whole situation, but he wasn't exactly sure how she would be when they were finally alone. Belle had related to him her side of the conversation with Rush this morning briefly while they were walking to dinner, in hushed tones so as not to be overheard. That was before Rush had mentioned Eli's tendency to have those bloody floating balls randomly flying about filming...things. After that, they had decided all conversations that shouldn't be overheard would take place in her quarters, preferably with the door locked. With access to Rush's memories, he was pretty sure he could make certain no one would be able to get through, as soon as he had access to his magic, he could make certain no one even tried.

Once they were through the door, Belle leaned to press the control plate. As the big metal bulkhead whirred and clanked to a close, she turned just in time. Rumplestiltskin was on her, pressing her back against the metal wall, his body plastered to hers, mouth closing on her's with a hunger that reminded her rather forcefully of the first few days after he had returned from Neverland, when they could barely manage to be in the same room together without ending up in an embrace or more. It had also led to a certain number of awkward moments, like the time they had been in the back room of the shop and Emma Swan had walked in. To her credit, she had left just as quickly as she had arrived with a comment about how they should be more careful about locking the door especially if she was going to let her son come to visit. Rumplestiltskin had been forced to remind her later (and a number of other people) that he had a 'closed' sign for a reason. But at the moment, it was just the two of them, at least she assumed it was just the two of them, and if he kept kissing her like that much longer she wasn't going to care if she Rush was with them, or the entire ship's company and the town of Storybrooke was watching.

"Rumple," she gasped, trying to tug at the horrible tee shirt that was so unlike his usual clothes, though at the moment she was willing to grant that it was easier than having to unbutton him. Another tug and he finally relented, pulling the shirt up and his arms out of it without releasing her til the last second to push it over his head and banish it to the floor somewhere.

"You as well, love," he said, taking advantage of their momentary separation. Belle complied easily, slipping the tee shirt over her head before he took it from her and threw it to join his. She didn't want to think about this too much, or even at all. Right now all she wanted was to be with her husband, and he wanted it as much as she did. But rather than back her against the wall again, he took her hand and dragged her the few steps to the bed and set her down on the edge, before kneeling at her feet with much more ease than he could have in his own body, and a wicked look in his eyes that she knew all too well. He slipped the flats she had been wearing off and began to unbutton the BDUs.

"What are you up to, Rumplestiltskin?" Belle asked him, though she had a very good idea. He tugged the trousers down, tossing them away and turned towards her with a smirk.

"About to have the first tasty bite I have had since I came aboard this rust bucket," he replied, voice lowered to a growl that Belle could feel like a caress. She didn't have an answer for that, and after a moment, she didn't even care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again to Robin4 for the beta. With luck the next part will be up soon, though please, keep the comments up, it makes the muse happy. I will be out of town next week at a festival with not exactly primitive camping but difficult enough that updating might be severely curtailed. Thank you for reading, commenting, kudos, etc.


	12. Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the difficulties of two men in one body manifest themselves in interesting ways, and Rush has some moments of self discovery that he really didn't want.

Nicholas Rush came back to himself in a flood of pleasure that he was almost certain in his distorted mind was the first true erotic dream he'd had since he was a randy boy. But with consciousness came awareness, awareness that he wasn't alone in his body, awareness that what he was feeling was in fact happening. He wanted it to be a dream but it felt so very good, and for all he could pretend that it was Gloria, he knew that if he allowed himself access to his senses, it would be the lovely brunette, Belle that lay beneath him, moaning softly and calling a name that was not his.

He didn't know what to do, waking up at this extremely awkward juncture was not ever a part of his plan, though while he would deny it if asked, the feeling was incredible. It had been so very long since he had been touched in an intimate way. He had never been the most passionate of men, or at least he never thought of himself that way, not physically anyway. With Gloria there was passion, but after she died, he had just cut that part of himself off, closed the door on it, and given everything to his work.

But now there was a beautiful woman with him, touching him, and while he was just a passenger, it was still his body, he could still feel what was happening, and more, he could sense Rumplestiltskin's emotions, how truly and deeply he loved Belle, his wife, his soulmate for lack of a better word, at least here. In their world they called it True Love, and there was something about it that made him tingle, and fire spark in his veins, he felt like he was being...healed from the inside out.

Nicholas Rush didn't want this, but it felt to good to ignore, the soft sounds coming from Belle, Mrs. Gold, he tried to correct himself, Mrs. Rumplestiltskin, wizard, immortal sorcerer who was more possessive than he could imagine and had a hell of a lot more idea of how this situation worked. The other thing he needed to keep firmly in mind, that she was his wife, and no matter how beautiful, how kind and gentle Nick found her, if the imp discovered him awake, he could find himself disembodied or dead. It should have been enough to kill the fire he was feeling in his veins, but it didn't. Nicholas Rush was a surviver, a scrapper, and he survived by playing it very close to the vest. He would survive this too, curling up in the back of his mind and trying to pretend that he was simply dreaming of Gloria, nothing more than an erotic fantasy. But when he tried to conjure his wife's lovely face, all he could manage was rich brunette curls, and a voice that called a name not his while he tried to remind himself that he wasn't betraying the woman he had loved.

 

Belle was curled up around her husband, head against his shoulder, waiting for her breathing to become even again. Looking at him in the dim light it was easy to forget that it wasn't Rumple, certainly he had managed to make her forget at least for a while. Now she was starting to see the differences. "What is that?" she asked, noticing the tattoo on his shoulder, the one that belonged to Nicholas Rush, not Rumplestiltskin.

"A lizard, I think," he said vaguely trying to get a look at it. "The result, I believe of some youthful high spirits, and possible a great deal of drink. I have a vague impression of it. Do you like it?"

"It...it's different. I don't think I want you to go out and get one yourself, if that's what you are thinking. I love your body the way it is."

"Even my leg?" he asked, relaxed enough now that he had reconnected with his wife to ask questions he only ever felt comfortable enough to ask when they were in bed.

"All of you, even your scars, because they are part of you, the reminder that you have lived a life," she said as she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his chest next to another scar. "This one?"

"Heart surgery, that memory is still fresh with him, it was only some weeks ago. Why, are you getting attached to this body? Or it's inhabitant?" his tone was light, but she knew Rumplestiltskin well enough. No matter how often she told him, a part of his was always waiting, expecting that he wasn't enough for him. She slapped his arm hard enough to sting.

"Rumplestiltskin, there is only one man for me, and you know who that is, I love you. I am just trying to get used to...all this. I know every inch of your body, it is familiar, but this...this isn't your body. I need to know it."

"You are too good to an old monster," he said, with a smile. She slapped his shoulder again, though this time not nearly as hard, and nestled into his arms, sleep dragging her down. Rumplestiltskin knew he should get up and shower, put a few clothes on against the possibility that Rush would wake up first. In a moment, he told himself. He was too comfortable right now. In moments, the sound of two bodies breathing together in sleep filled the little room.

 

Nicholas Rush woke up for the second time in two days with a warm body wrapped around him. Unlike the last time, however, this time he was most definitely not wearing anything, and neither was she. It was almost enough to make him leap from the bed but with that thought came the next, that it would most definitely wake her, and quite possibly the other person he was sharing his body with. He had no desire to embarrass Belle, especially not after he had tried so hard to reassure her that what they were doing was...well not normal but not uncommon here on the ship. He didn't want her to feel awkward, and he most definitely had no desire to deal with Rumplestiltskin during the potentially difficult aftermath.

Nick licked his lips nervously and was confronted with another aspect of there arrangement that he had never considered. His senses were full of Belle, he could taste her on his lips, in his mouth, and the smell of her, and of their coupling washed over him like a wave. It occurred to him like a slap to the face that his problem was rather larger than he thought. While he was much rather light his own bedding on fire than admit it to anyone, especially the man she was married to, he was attracted to Belle Gold. It was bad, very bad, and an eventuallity he had never planned on or even considered. Perhaps it was a side effect of sharing his thoughts with the imp, or perhaps it was just that like his beloved Gloria, she seemed to see him, not the least put off by his manners or mannerisms. She was a genuinely kind person, friendly, loving, loyal, everything, in other words, that he was not.

None of this speculation was doing him any good though. Belle shifted gently in his arms, her thigh brushing up against him, and he realised he had another problem and he needed to deal with it right now. He was incredibly turned on, and laying with her pillowed against him wasn't going to do anything to make that any better. Carefully he slipped himself out from under her warm body, and watched carefully and she pulled the pillow into her embrace. For a moment, he just sat on the side of the bed watching her, and trying to breathe. He needed to take his mind off her, and sitting here in this room with the mused bed reeking of sex, knowing that she was naked under the bedcover wasn't helping. Nor would it get better if his passenger woke up and found him practically drooling over his wife.

Carefully, Nick dragged himself up and dressed, not as easy as it ought to have been but his arousal was failing to go away. He tried to think of something, anything that was not the beautiful woman behind him. It took a few moments to find his clothes and get them on. Fortunately his quarters and the ones that he had secured for Belle were away from the main corridors, which had actually been his plan, he appreciated his privacy, now even more. He ducked to his own room after a moments thought and grabbed his kit. The ship, thoughtfully or no, didn't provide for a cold shower, but perhaps it would allow him to relax a little. If not, there were other ways of dealing with the situation.

This is completely ridiculous, he thought to himself as he stood in the mist trying to think about anything but his current condition. Arousal, confusion, guilt and concern were all spinning through his brain at the speed of a Beckham free kick, making thinking almost impossible and focus somewhat harder. But he couldn't stop it. He tried focusing on the maths problems he had been working at, but the numbers danced away from him, coming back to the face of the beautiful brunette, only to change to an image of Gloria, as she had looked in the hospital. He had more or less promised himself at Gloria's death that he would never allow himself to feel like that about anyone ever again. Not that it was something Gloria would have asked of him. She had, in fact, asked him exactly the opposite, and Nicholas Rush knew it, knew it. She had wanted him to find someone, not to close himself off and bury himself in work the way he always had when it came to emotional difficulties situations. But someone was most definitely not the wife of the man/imp that was sharing his body with him.

It's purely physical, he told himself, just a reaction to stimuli. It should have been anyway, at least until he realised that he was licking his lips repeatedly, to catch the remnants of her flavour. He stripped quickly, and let himself into the shower cubical and stood under the mist trying to quiet his unruly mind. He was a middle aged man, physically he had just been intimate with the woman that refused to leave his thoughts. There was no way he should be this aroused, but apparently his body wasn't responding to his commands even when he was in control. Resigned to having to take care of the situation himself, preferably before he had company in his head, he reached down and touched himself.

It felt good, really good, and he sort of vaguely wondered when the last time he had indulged in a quiet wank had been. That thought was pushed aside as his fragmented thoughts began to coalesce and an image formed behind his eyes, and not the image he wanted. Belle, naked and beneath him, pressing her body against him, nails dragging down his back, the sweet warmth of her surrounding him. He wanted to banish them, tried to call up Gloria, the last time they had made love but he couldn't, and even as he felt his hand speed up, bringing his climax closer, he felt tears prick in his eyes for the love that he was betraying, both of them. With a groan, he let go, his seed spilling out across his hand and the floor, as he sank down in the mist, tears flowing silently down his cheeks.

As the tears slowed, he dragged himself slowly off the floor and grabbed for his soap, hoping to wash away the shame and the memories at the same time. You've finally done it, Nick said to himself, not sure if he was speaking out loud or not, you have finally gone completely mad. His emotions were all over the place and he wasn't sure what to do with himself. Worse, he didn't even know how much he was feeling was actually him.

"And what exactly are you feeling, Dearie?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta Robin4 for helping me talk this out, because this chapter went a lot of places I didn't think it was, and not at all where I wanted it to go. Thanks to all of you who are still reading, and remember, comments are love. None of my stories will be updated in the next week because I am leaving for an outdoor festival tomorrow, and besides being in the woods and working, the signal is practically nonexistant.


	13. Late nights and Early Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rumple and Rush talk, and Belle wakes up alone.

"And what exactly are you feeling, Dearie?"

"None of your damn business," he growled as he struggled with his balance. "Thought you had buggered off on a wave of post coital bliss, so I could get some work done."

"And why would you know or care what I was up to, hmmmm?" Rumplestiltskin wasn't about to mention what it was that had woken him up. That waking up wrapped around his wife had left the man in an uncomfortable position, he had no doubt, but that his...dealing with the problem had jolted the other man awake was not something he was about to admit to, ever. Just because they had to share a body for the moment, didn't mean that some things still shouldn't be private. Still, there was no way he could avoid the mix of emotions that was filling Dr. Rush, and while he was perfectly capable of cruelty, more than capable, he understood the guilt that came with loss, and as much as he really didn't care for this man one way or the other, working together was the only way they were going to get through this without one, the other or both of them going mental.

"I'd have tae be dead to wake up with a naked woman wrapped around and not be able to put the pieces together," Rush snapped. This wasn't getting any easier.

"Your wife, you miss her?" Rumplestiltskin asked suddenly, the voice in his head softer.

It made Rush wonder exactly how much of his emotional state was bleeding over. Perhaps, if he was careful, he could get out of this one with his skin intact, without admitting to why he was feeling so very guilty at the moment. "Yes, more than you can possibly imagine." He wasn't certain but there was something he could almost feel, like an itch in the back of his mind. Then he could see it, a memory, and not one of his own.

He had seen the room before, in dreams. The woman who stood there looked familiar as well, he knew that his alter ego knew her, certainly, and didn't particular like her, or hadn't; memories were a funny thing. He watched, much like he had earlier, though this time it wasn't his body he was a passenger in. The body of the imp, or whatever he was felt different, he could sense things differently. There were voices whispering in the back of his mind that he knew weren't his, and a smell...like something old, earthy. Then there was the tingle, almost as if something was under his skin and trying to get out. Dragging himself from the sensations, he knew that Rumplestiltskin was showing him something, something important.

The woman, something in his memory identified her as Regina, and also labeled her trouble, someone who had already done something to precipitate whatever situation had the body he was occupying in such an awful state. Now that he was accustomed to the body, he could feel something else, pain, kept barely in check, possibly by magic, and a headache that reminding him of the odd drinking bout he had got up to while at University. Nick wondered briefly why it was that he was choosing to share this, and why now, until Regina started talking about torture. "She threw herself from the tower."

The words seemed to echo in his memory, or rather in Rumplestiltskin's memory. Now he understood, or thought it did. Belle, he thought she was dead. Examining the memories, he realised that despite their differences, this was something that they could both understand, loss and guilt. The difference was, Belle was alive. It had all been a lie. But Gloria was still dead, and nothing would ever change that.  
"Don't suppose you can change that, can you?" he asked, only a little bitterly. He wasn't certain why, he didn't believe in magic anyway, and so far, the man sharing his head hadn't managed anything like the magic he saw in his head.

"Magic can do a great deal, but not that. Besides, all magic comes with a price. Not sure you would want to pay it, even if I could. No changing time, no bringing back the dead, no making people fall in love, those are the rules."

"Sounds like something from a fairy story," Rush growled, stepping out of the mist and grabbing a towel.

"Well, I am given to understand that in your world, I am a fairy story. But that doesn't mean..." Rumplestiltskin went quiet for a moment inside him, and he felt something, a tingle, like an itch under his skin or that strange pulse that comes with the prickle that accompanies a sleeping limb coming back to life. "That doesn't mean that you should discount the possibilities in your future."

"There is nothing anymore, nothing but my work," he said dismissively.

"I shouldn't count on that," the sorcerer said in an odd sing song whisper. Actually it reminded Rush of the way children were, when asked to keep a secret.

"What do you know?" he growled back at himself. He had managed to dry off and was now looking at his own reflection in the mirror. This time he didn't seem himself in it, not really, he saw the imp, not particularly hiding behind his eyes.

"A great many things, far more than I could ever share with you even if I wanted to. Suffice it to say, sometimes, I can even see the future," he dropped that little bombshell with a flourish of their shared hand.

"It's not..." but before he could get the words out any further, the eyes staring into his darkened, and there was something...dark in them, more dangerous that what he has seen up to this point.

"One thing I know for certain," he said, his voice conversational, and the face that they shared neutral with almost a hint of a smile, only the eyes giving the darkness away. "I know this is a difficult situation and one neither of us asked for. Belle is a very loving, trusting person, the best woman, the best person I have known in my entire overly long life. I'm not. If you so much as think about doing anything to her, I will have absolutely no compunction about killing you, as slowly as possible." Rush nodded. An answer was not required. He had no doubt that the other man would follow through. "Now, I think I'd best get some rest. Kindly take a break at the appropriate time to allow me to wake Belle up," Rumplestiltskin said. "I think it would best if I did it, don't you?" The tone was dismissive, and he felt the other presence in his mind settle back into quietness.

Yes, there was no doubt that the message had been received.

 

Belle Gold woke alone in a strange metal room. For a moment she felt the panic rising, then awareness, and memory came back. She was on Destiny, a strange ship on the far side of the universe. It felt strange, waking up alone. Belle hated waking up alone. Part of her wondered if Dr. Rush had woken up, and wondered how embarrassed she would or should be when she saw him again. Another, smaller part of her worried about what Rumple's reaction would be. She wasn't exactly sure what time it was, it wasn't as if there was a day or night here, not a real one, like looking out the window. Not that it mattered anyway, after all weren't day and night concepts based on the rotation cycle of the Earth? Hardly something applicable here.

Still, she felt like she had got a decent amount of sleep. Of course she had slept well, Rumplestiltskin had made a very concerted effort to tire her out completely. Belle knew very well that had been the plan, and they had been quite successful: was only afterward that she began to fret. She didn't know Nicholas Rush very well, but there were definitely things about him that reminded her of Rumple, especially as he had been when they first met, so closed off and damaged by life, and loneliness. But unlike Rumple, he wasn't immortal, and she didn't think that there was anyone here who would or could get through the barriers he put up. Belle knew that there really wasn't anything she could do, but it didn't stop her from considering it. There had to be something that could be done.

As she was considering these things, the door slide open. Belle pulled the bedclothes up about her shoulders, for a moment concerned about the invasion. But then it wouldn't be like Rumple to leave her in a situation where anyone could walk in on her. In all likelihood the worst she had to worry about was Dr. Rush, and while that would be a bit embarrassing, it was hardly the end of the world. "Rumple?" she asked the moment she saw him.

"Of course, darling. You were expecting someone else?" he asked as he made his way quickly to her side, a smirk on his face.

"Not really, but it could have been Dr. Rush," she said as he settled onto the bed at her side.

"He would have knocked, and will, if he knows what's good for him."

"Rumple," she said, her voice thick with disapproval.

Her husband just shrugged. "I am a jealous monster," he said with a flourish so very much like his old self that Belle giggled a little.

"You're not a monster," she reminded him as she leaned in for a morning kiss. "And you know you have no need to be jealous. There has never been another man for me, only you."

"Aye, that's right, and I'll never understand it, but I'll not argue with you. Doesn't mean I want Rush paying too much attention to you either. I am not known for my sharing nature."

"Rumple, did you threaten him?" she asked. "Is that why he's being so...er...accommodating?" She blushed just a little. Really, the less she thought about how complicated the emotional situation was, the better, probably for them all.

"I might have said a few things," he hesitated, not wanting Belle to get the wrong idea, but not exactly wanted to tell her the whole truth. "But that is not why he is..."

"Indulging you?"The other voice whispered in his ear. "Still here, remember, so please do us both a favour and keep your hands to yourself."

There was a sarcasm that he could feel and he wondered briefly if that was what he sounded like to others, before returning his attention to more important things. "He explained it all to you, did he not. The way they use the stones to... keep contact with their family?" Rumplestiltskin wasn't know for his ability to blush, nor for his particular prudery, though he was more than a little shy about personal things.

"He did, and I do understand. It's just...I feel a bit like we are using him? That it isn't particularly fair."

"None of this is fair, to any of us. But you know as well as I do that fair has little to do with it. Besides, its not as if he is getting nothing out of this arrangement. I have been able to help him with some of his work," "More if you would finish and let me get back to work." the other man whispered. Clearly he was uncomfortable with being party to this kind of intimate conversation as well. "We will find a way to make it work, love, we always do." He pulled her close and just held her, just for a while. There was a little time just to be together.

"Where were you when I woke up? I was a little...concerned," she said, looking up from her comfortable place in his arms.

"Nothing to be concerned about, Rush wanted to get some work done. Apparently it is common for him to work at odd hours. That he has been out of the...what do they call that, Interface Room? Regardless, that he has not been would have started to look suspicious, besides, it gave him something to do. Now, we have something we need to discuss before we leave. I'd meant to mention it to you last night, but we got...distracted," he said, kissing her again.

Belle pulled back before the kiss could turn into something else though. They were both equally as likely to get distracted, and it was far too easy. Ever since they had gotten back to one another, it had been hard for them not to, especially when they never knew what would happen next to separate them. "What is it?" she asked.

"Apparently TJ and Greer are going to use the stones. They are going to Storybrooke."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as usual to Robin4 for the Beta and to all of you who are still reading. Sorry the update was so late, but after my event I was sick, and then my beta was sick, and I think my muse took a vacation. But all is well and back. Thank you for the comments, kudos and bookmarks. Please keep it up, as it keeps the muse interested and not off doing whatever they do when they are ignoring our pleas. 
> 
> Next Time--TJ and Greer go to Storybrooke and Young tries to figure out Belle. Also, Telford is...well Telford.


	14. Welcome to Storybrooke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TJ and Greer are off to Storybrooke. Meanwhile back on Destiny, Rush and Rumplestiltskin have a little problem.

"Really, this is the best they could do?" Greer said, looking down at the body he was occupying. The man, Cavanagh, an annoying scientist who had at one point been part of the Atlantis expedition was tall and lean, and had a prissy sort of face that made Greer want to belt himself.

"Hey, could be worse, could have been Telford," TJ said. She had also ended up in the body of one of the scientists, Dr. Mehta, a shortish Indian woman who was as unlike TJ's usual body as she possibly could be and still be a woman, but it wasn't so bad.

"Yeah, then I would have spent the day avoiding mirrors to resist punching myself in the face. You ever noticed that Telford seems to always be on the stones when the Colonel is reporting in, but not the rest of us? I mean, ever notice that he doesn't come poking around as Scott or Brody, even Rush. It's like he is trying to...I don't know, disrupt things maybe? I don't know, just doesn't feel right."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It is kind of weird, but then Telford is kind of weird. I'm surprised he didn't try to come with us," TJ said leaning back in the seat. They had gotten up early in order to report to the communications room. From there they had been taken by car to Andrews AFB and from there by plane to an old and mostly disused Navel Air Station in Brunswick, Maine. Now they were driving south towards the small town of Storybrooke, ME.

"Would have, but a buddy of mine told me he got dragged away, some briefing about possible Lucian Alliance attacks on some of our allies. I don't know why, but he really took a dislike to Belle," he said, leaning a little harder on the gas. It had been a long time since he had driven anything, and he was throughly enjoying it, even if he wasn't fond of the body he was in.

"Yeah, I heard about that. I noticed that she didn't exactly take to the Colonel though," TJ told him, rolling down the window to enjoy the fresh air while she could. It was a little chilly, but it didn't matter, the air was fresh and it smelled like...well, it smelled like Earth.

"Now, you know I respect the Colonel more than just about any other person on or off Earth," Greer said, carefully qualifying. "But I have to say, he bought himself that one. He should have never opened his mouth. My mama always said you can't go around making comments about people's relationships without gettin' yourself in trouble."

"What did I miss?" she asked. Greer was a little surprised, usually TJ was plugged into just about everything that happened on the ship, but then maybe everyone decided it was best to stay out of it.

"He tried to push her, said something pretty rude about her husband and the age difference."

"Ouch," TJ said. She had only spent a little time with Belle, but one thing she had picked up right away was exactly how very much she loved her husband. "I suppose he was trying to figure out if she was telling the truth, trying to get a reaction."

"Oh, he got a reaction alright. Said something about there being an age difference and her husband being rich, accused her of being a gold digger, or him of being a perv."

"Belle seems the type to stand up for herself," TJ said. She would like to be surprised but then there was no reason to be. Everett Young was a lot of things but subtle wasn't really his strong suit. The problem was sometimes he came on a little too strong.

"She sure did, stood up to all, what, 5'2"? Then she slapped his face hard enough to rock his world." TJ couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. Just the idea of Belle who was just a little thing slapping Young across the face, well not that she had never been tempted to do that herself, but still it was funny. "Yeah, it was pretty funny. I thought even Rush would laugh, and we all know that man has no sense of humour. But he seems to have taken a liking to her."

"Yeah, not sure about that, but then I'm pretty sure he's trying to figure out how she got out there. If he can figure it out, maybe we can get home...still, not sure. I guess I'm not used to Rush treating anyone like a person."

"Yeah, well..." Greer started to stay something but then paused as he saw something ahead. "Guess we are almost there, time to make sure that she is who she says she is."

They drove past a common green metal sign. Welcome to Storybrooke.

 

"So Dr. Rush, what you need is..."

"Are you sure I can't turn him into a snail," Rumplestiltskin growled from the back of his mind, just barely keeping himself in control. Cavanagh had been there for less than half an hour and already managed to piss off both Brody and Volker before Rush had gotten to the Neural Interface room. In fact, as he had entered, having taken Belle back to the Observation deck with her supplies, Eli had brushed past him, growling something about needing to review some Kino footage with a sour look on his face.

"Can you reach your magic yet?" he asked the imp. Greer would probably object to being a snail, though Rush didn't think it was necessarily a bad idea. Still, that would get them noticed. There was no answer exactly, but he felt...something, a build up of some kind of tingling sensation, a feeling he had noticed before, when he had shared memories with the Sorcerer. "Is that...magic?"

"Well, it's not fairy dust, dearie," the sarcastic answer from the imp. "Snail might be a bit ambitious this soon, though."

"Not to mention getting us noticed, I am fairly certain that Greer being replaced with a garden pest that we don't even have in this galaxy as far as we are aware would be suspicious. Also do we know the effect on the host?"

"You see, Dr. Rush, I've done all the calculations. I tried to get Dr. MacKay to look at them but he..." Cavangh whined. Rush wasn't Rodney MacKay's biggest fan. They respected each other's intellect but they were also both self aware enough to stay away from one another. Their approaches were as different as their personalities. But on this, he was in complete agreement with the young Canadian. He could see why Weir had sent him back from the Atlantis project and if he had been stuck on Destiny with them, he would have probably accidentally been sucked out one of the more unstable parts of the ship.

"Can you take his voice away from him?" Rush asked almost longingly. He wasn't certain how much more of the man he could take and that was with paying him no actual attention. There was a headache building behind his eyes, the itch of Rumplestiltskin's magic and the fact that Dr. Park, ever the positive and friendly was now arguing with the other man, while Dr. Mehta had taken herself off after checking in with Rush, having some new ideas about power flow for the Stargate that she wanted to run some diagnostics on. Unlike Cavanagh, Rush had a certain amount of respect for Dr. Mehta's abilities.

"Dr. Cavanagh," Rush said finally, coldly. "Do you not think we've considered what ye're suggesting?" Volker and Brody, both with long experience of Rush and his moods, recognised the thickening of his accent for what it was. He vaguely registered the two of them exchanging looks that said they were actually looking forward to the bollocking he was about to give the taller man.

"Well, I suppose...but you have to take into account..."

"Take into account what? Be specific," he said, barely managing not to add dearie after it. His voice had gotten even deeper and colder, his eyes narrowed, as he peered over his glasses. Rush wondered how much more bleed over he was going to get, and if it was the stress but that was for later. Also, he was trying to keep his temper, which was not exactly something he was good at. "I am curious to know exactly what maths mistake you think you have discovered that I have made." It sounded almost pleasant, almost, but clearly Cavanagh was not either familiar with sarcasm or big on self preservation.

"Well, Dr. Rush, I know that ri..." he started, trying to direct the scientist towards the screen he had been trying to get in front of the scientist since he had walked through the door. Rush felt the tingling grow and then as quickly as it had started it was gone. There might have been a small puff of purple smoke, but then he could have been seeing things. Meanwhile Cavanagh was clutching his throat, and opening and closing his mouth repeatedly.

"Cavanagh, spit it out, man," Rush snapped at him as if he had no idea what was happening, while in the back of his mind, the imp was giggling maliciously. "What the bloody hell has..." he looked at the man who was now clutching his throat and clearly trying to say something.

"What's the matter with him?" Brody asked.

"Not a clue, he just stopped talking of a sudden. Still standing, you can breathe alright, can't ye?" he asked. "Stop panicking and answer the question," he said when the man continued his annoying motions. The scientist currently occupying Sergeant Greer stopped and then nodded. "Alright, you can breathe so its not life threatening. Dr. Park, could you take him to the infirmary. TJ's not here, but I someone's down there. If nothing else, you have some first aid training I believe. Not exactly certain what happened, but you can at least read the diagnostic scanner." Park nodded, and took the man by the arm to lead him out of the room. "Mr. Brody, can you check the atmospheric readings? No one else is feeling any ill effects?" he asked. Volker shrugged, and Brody just shook his head. "Then I suppose we had best get back to it then," he said, returning his attention to his screen and the notebook in his hand, trying to hide the slight trembling of his hand. Magic, he had just done magic, or rather his body and it's other resident had. That was going to take a lot to accept, for now he just needed to focus on his work.

 

"This looks like it. The ship is supposed to drop out of FTL at about 14:00. That means we have about...three hours here, figuring it takes as long to get back to the airfield," Greer said checking his watch. They were sitting in front of the small brick building with a sign identifying it as the Storybrooke Police department.

"Yeah, I don't know about you, but getting bounced to my body and back while one of us is driving is not high on my list of things to do," TJ responded. "I suppose we should go inside. This should be interesting."

"Yeah, maybe we'll get to meet Rush's evil twin."

"You are so sure Rush isn't the evil twin?" TJ asked with a smile. "Seriously, I hope that we can take her some good news. She seems to be handling everything pretty well considering but..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Okay, we are supposed to ask for the Sheriff, one Emma Swan, best get on with it." He opened the door and got out of the black SUV and looked up and down the street. They had supplied the two of them with uniforms and identification with the correct pictures so that they could pass for official in this highly irregular situation, and it fit poorly on Cavanagh's tall, lean frame. But then, Greer though, his body doesn't exactly fit well either. It was one of the things he didn't like about using the stones, it felt...weird.

He joined TJ as they made their way into the building and down the hall to a large open room. There were two old style jail cells at the back, complete with bars on the front, two desks, both unoccupied, and an office with a large glass window that looked out onto the central office facing the two cells. There didn't seem to be anyone in the office, either. "Man, Mayberry RFD city here," Greer said, looking around the office. TJ gave him a look. "What, I used to watch a lot of TVLand when I was a kid, all those old black and white shows. But seriously this place is..."

"Can I help you?" A voice said from behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who is reading this, hope you are all still enjoying. This Chapter is a little different, so we will see how it goes. Please read, review, etc. The muse loves to hear from readers.


	15. Questions and Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TJ and Greer meet Emma and Neal, while on Destiny, Belle has some questions for the man...er...men in her life.

They both turned suddenly to find a woman with longish blonde hair standing behind them. She was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, the holster for her weapon clipped clearly on her belt along with a shiny gold badge. Greer reached for his identification, but they were interrupted.

"Hey sweetheart, you left your lunch," a voice came from further behind her. The man came into view carrying a brown bag, and wearing a grin. "Hello, don't think I have seen you folks around town before," the man said, handing the bag to the woman.

"We just arrived," TJ said. She was the senior officer and the more diplomatic of the two anyway. "We are looking for the sheriff, one Emma Swan, I'm guessing that's you?"

"Yeah, what can I do for you two? And just who are you?" she said taking in the uniforms. "Not to be rude, but we don't exactly have a lot of Air Force personnel around, and by that I mean none."

"Lt. Tamara Johanson, and this is Sergeant Ronald Greer. We need ask you some questions about a Mrs. Belle Gold, can we go into your office?" The man, who looked like he was about to turn around and leave stopped in his tracks.

"You've found Belle?" He said suddenly, turning back to them.

"Come on into the office, you too, the shop can wait. Anything you folks have to say to me, you can say in front of Neal. He's..."

"That would be Neal...Gold?" Tamara said, guessing. "You are Belle's...her husband's son?"

"Yes, Lieutenant, I'm Belle's stepson. Now, can you tell me what happened to her?" He said, starting towards her. There was something in the way he moved, like he wasn't a stranger to a fight but it also spoke of his concern for her.

"Bae, let's all go into my office," Emma said, putting her hand on his arm. "We don't get enough strangers in town, and I'm sure that the Storybrooke grapevine will be all over this like a rash. Follow me," she said, stepping into the office and sliding behind the desk. TJ and Greer followed after her and Neal. TJ found it hard to look at him. He was clearly upset. The desk was almost empty, just some papers, a large coffee mug, the only personal detail was a framed photograph. The frame looked a little too fussy for the no nonsense woman in front of her. She wasn't an expert, that was Camille, but she would guess it was a gift. It was a pretty common wedding photo triptych, Sheriff Swan, with Neal, the man who even now was looking like he wanted to pace the room, another photo on the other side, of the two of them with a boy. But it was the center photograph that drew her attention. It contained the newly married couple, another couple she didn't recognise, and Belle Gold with her husband, the man who looked exactly like Nicholas Rush.

"Who is that?" she said, pointing to the picture.

"That's my wedding picture, me, Neal, my...best friend Mary Margaret, her husband David, and Belle and Gold. Why do you ask, and what does this have to do with Belle, where is she?"

"So you aren't just a friend, you're sort of related?" Greer said, speaking for the first time. "What about Mr. Gold, your father, can we speak to him?' He had noticed that neither of them had suggested calling him.

"That won't be possible right now," the Sheriff said, taking charge and gesturing for them to sit down. "Now, what about Belle? Where is she, and when can she come home?"

"That's not..." TJ said, regretting having been sent on this little venture. She was a medic, not a diplomat or a spy. But there wasn't much she could do now, except find out what she could, confirm what Belle had told them, and try to find out things to tell her. "Right now we are just trying to establish if this woman even is Belle Gold."

"What do you need to do that? I suppose there is DNA or something at the house, fingerprints maybe?" Neal asked, looking at his wife. "Will it help us get her back?"

"Tell us about her."

"Belle is..." Emma Swan started.

"Special, she's very special. Always has time for everyone. It makes my pop nuts though, it means she is not always the most punctual person."

"She's always reading, usually has a book in front of her. And she will read anything, literally anything," Emma said with a smile. "I've had to threaten to ticket her for almost walking into the street because she was reading a book. Remember the time she almost fell in front of Archie's car? I thought Gold was going to have a heart attack, and poor Archie..." She laughed just a little.

"That is the other thing, Mom's a little...clumsy," Neal added.

"You call her Mom, you're what, about the same age as she is?" Greer said giving him a funny look, as if he had said something dirty.

"Yeah, I do. It started as mostly a joke, Belle is two years older than I am, if you want to know. But she makes my father happy, happier than he ever has been," the dark haired man answered just a little aggressively. Clearly he was willing to defend his step mother against any slight.

"Alright, no problem. Just a little strange, most people wouldn't be too thrilled with a step mother who could have been in the same school as them."

"Maybe, Belle and I didn't go to school together though," he said, answering what he was pretty sure was a trick question with ease. If they had her, she would stick to the script, tell as much of the truth as they could, avoid the rest. "Belle was here, I was in New York. My parents split a long time ago and it took Papa and I a while to...reconnect. I didn't move back to Storybrooke 'til a couple years ago." Greer just nodded, not giving anything away.

"Okay, that's all good enough, but I want some answers. First where is Belle?" Emma said sharply. It was all well and good to sit around and talk about what a great person she was, but it was clear that the Sheriff was a sharp woman and she wanted answers. She wasn't just going to tell them everything they wanted to know without answers.

"I'm sorry, I can't give out that information," TJ said.

"What do you mean you can't give out that information? She's an American citizen, she has rights. It's not like she is a terrorist, she's a small town librarian for god's sake, not a mad bomber. We need her back here."

"I can't tell you anything right now, I'm sorry. She is safe, and she is doing alright, physically."

"But...'' Emma said pointedly.

"She's very worried about her husband, do you know..." TJ asked. She was trying for diplomatic but she really couldn't say anything, not anything that they would believe and they seemed about as interested in being helpful.

"Of course she is, she and Gold...well, I may not get it, but they're...they..." Emma said, trying to find a way to express herself to someone who she clearly didn't trust them. Not that TJ could blame her, after all who would believe the story if she could actually tell her?

"My father and she are soulmates, for lack of a better word. Of course she is distraught, but where is she and why don't you just bring her back? My father needs her," Neal told them, the anguish on his face was clear and plain.

TJ looked at Greer and made an decision. They seemed like nice, normal enough people. Greer was still looking suspicious but then he was always suspicious. "Belle, Mrs. Gold, well, she turned up in the middle of a government project that is extremely classified."

"How the hell did that even happen?" Emma Swan said, but the look she gave her husband seemed to say volumes. Clearly there were things they weren't sharing either. She looked at Greer.

It was time to pull out the big guns. The large man reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and held out a small file photograph. "Either of you know who this man is?" Greer asked gruffly. Clearly these people cared about Belle, he could appreciate that, really, she was a nice lady. But there was an awful lot they weren't saying. He handed the photograph to the Sheriff, but Neal leaned over her shoulder. "Looks almost like my pop," he said, a little startled.

"Yeah, except for the lack of shave, and the glasses. Unless Gold is vainer than I think, he doesn't wear them. Then there is that jacket. I can't imagine him wearing that...ever. He wears a suit for a walk in the woods."

"Not really. My papa grew up really really poor. He's really particular about what he wears, has been ever since he made his money. Even before, he was always dressed the best he could," Neal explained. "Maybe, if Belle asked him to?" He said with a shrug. "Though I can't imagine why she would, and I don't want to."

"Yeah, let's not even...last time I forgot to knock first..." The sheriff shuddered in the way that only someone who had ever walked in on people you didn't want to think about together. "So who is he?"

"His name is Dr. Nicholas Rush, ever heard of him?" Greer asked. He wasn't necessarily being deliberately aggressive but something about this was just setting off his 'something not right here' alarm.

"No, should I? I mean the only doctors I know personally are Archie and Whale, Neal?' she said looking over her shoulder.

"Got me, never heard of him. What kind of doctor is he?"

"Mathematician, Astrophysicist, I think there are a couple others that I can't think of right at the moment," Greer said, off handed. "Never heard of him, your father never mentioned the name? Maybe some kind of relative?"

"Look, Sergeant. I don't know what to tell you. I've never heard of the guy, and if he was a relative, Papa wouldn't necessarily have said, or even known. His mother died when he was a baby, and his father was..." The man paused, but TJ noticed he said 'his father' not 'my grandfather', definitely not a close family. "He was Peter Pan, never wanted to grow up. He abandoned my father when he was three or four, left him with a couple elderly aunts. Papa doesn't really talk about him at all. I'm the only family that I am aware of, besides Belle." TJ just nodded, but Greer looked like he was going to say something when someone came into the outer office.

"Great, that will be the Storybrooke grapevine hard at work," the Sheriff said with a sigh waving through the glass in the international 'give me a minute' signal. The woman that had come in nodded. She was tall and thin with a short white skirt and red streaks in her hair, carrying a white bag. "Now everyone in town will know, not that they didn't already, sorry but you guys don't exactly look like tourists."

"We don't want to cause too much disruption. If we could interview Mr. Gold and maybe a few others who know her, she said she has a father in town?" TJ said.

"Moe French, should be easy enough. In fact, people who know Belle is easy enough, it's a small town. Ruby there is one of her best friends," she nodded through the window to the woman who was pulling coffee cups out of the bag. "Gold...that's going to be a problem."

"How so?" Greer said, suddenly on alert. He hoped briefly that whatever had happened to Belle hadn't happened to her husband too. If it had, he could be anywhere, and he didn't want to have to be the one to tell her.

"The night that Belle went missing, well, it's kind of strange." Neal looked at Emma, as if he was unsure about what she was about to say, but she shook her head and he subsided. "As near as we can tell, she and Gold went out for their evening walk."

"This was a usual thing? I mean they went for a walk regularly?" TJ asked.

"Pretty much," Neal put in. "Belle wanted him to get more exercise, especially...my papa has a bad leg, old injury, walks with a cane. They've been walking most evenings, barring weather, except for Wednesday night, when the shop and the library are both open late."

"Anyway," Emma said, calling the focus back to her. "That night, it was a Friday, our son Henry was going to go spend the night at his grandparent's house because they were going to leave for the cabin Saturday morning. Henry called me to say they hadn't come back from their walk, then I got a call about a big flash of light in the woods. When we got there, Belle was gone."

"And Mr. Gold?" TJ asked. She could sense that it was a sensitive subject and she was trying, but even though she knew it was necessary, it felt like prying, though she didn't know why.

"Papa was on the ground, unresponsive. We don't know what happened."

"You think Belle attacked..." Greer started, pretty sure that wasn't what happened.

"Hey, don't you talk about my..." Neal said, starting forward like he was shot out of a cannon fists first. Emma barely grabbed him, and while he had started it, Greer couldn't feel sorry for it. That was real anger and concern in the other man's eyes. It would have been worth the punch.

"No one is saying anything like that," TJ said. "What did the Doctor say about Gold?"

"At first we wondered if someone had attacked them and taken Belle or if whatever happened had her wandering the woods in shock or something, but we couldn't find any sign. Dr. Whale doesn't know what to say about Gold. There's no wounds and no signs of some kind of stroke or anything. He's...what did Whale say, in a catatonic state. He's over at the hospital but you can see why interviewing him will be impossible. Its one of the reasons we are so anxious to get Belle back. Gold needs her."

"I...I don't know..." TJ stuttered. She didn't know what to say. How to you explain to people that there is no way to get their...whatever she was back to them? How was she going to tell Belle that her husband was in a catatonic state and she couldn't get home to him?

"We're just here to gather information, Ma'am," Greer said with more respect than he had been showing. "Beyond that, well, that's not up to us. For now, we'd best get back to it." The Sheriff nodded, but there was something in the back of her eyes that said this wasn't over yet, not by a long shot and neither of them was particularly surprised.

"Neal, you want to go get them something of Belle's, something they can test or whatever?" Emma said.

"It's best if we collect it ourselves," TJ said. "If you can take us to where your...parents live, we can..."

"I'll take you to the house and show you what you need," he said, making it clear that he was not letting them paw through his parents house without his supervision.

"That will be fine. Actually," the medic said, checking her watch. "Maybe we had better split up? Greer..." she wasn't sure Greer was the best person to be interviewing people. On the other hand, how hard would it be for him to collect what they need. He could look around just as well, though she wasn't exactly sure he was the best person to be alone with Neal Gold, on the other hand, she wasn't certain he wouldn't manage to piss the Sheriff off either. She seemed a bit of a hot head too. "Greer, you know what I need for the testing? I'll got with Sheriff Swan. I'd also like to see Mr. Gold if I may? I can tell her..."

"How about telling her when she can get back to her husband and family? How about telling her that?" the Sheriff snapped at her.

"It's not my..."

"Yeah, following orders, that's what they always say, isn't it?" the Sheriff said, as she stood.

Belle had finished the first set of mending, and was taking it back to the mess hall, where she had been returning things. After all, despite the awfulness of the food, everyone had to go there at one point or another. Becker let her use a table in the back. Now that she was finished with this lot, it gave her an excuse to go and find Rumple...er...Rush. They had promised her a ball bearing to use for darning socks. There would be more mending, she was pretty certain, but Camille had handled all that, putting things in order, worst cases first. Socks, at a premium on this ship, were important, especially on alien planets, and she had more than a few to tend.

She had just dropped it off when she ran into Dr. Park and Sergeant Greer, or whoever it was. Rumplestiltskin had told her that Greer and TJ were going to Storybrooke. While they were gone, a couple of scientists who wanted access to Destiny or were working on things back on Earth, would be using their bodies. It was a little confusing, but it made accepting her and Rumple's situation so much easier.

"Dr. Park, Mr...I'm sorry I don't know who you are," she said politely.

"This is Dr Cavanagh. I'm taking him to the infirmary," Park said with a cheerful smile. Of course, she was almost always cheerful.

"Oh, is everything alright?" she asked, concerned.

"It's the weirdest thing, he was talking to Rush when suddenly, his voice just...stopped." The man who looked mostly like Sergeant Greer, opened his mouth, clearly trying to say something, but nothing happened. It reminded her a little bit of something, a time back in the Enchanted Forest, when that rather repulsive Sheriff of Nottingham had made a rather...obscene suggestion to Rumplestiltskin. Though as near as she could tell, this man still had his tongue in his mouth.

"That's er...rather unfortunate," Belle said, suddenly needing more than ever to find her husband. On the one hand, she was exhilarated. If Rumplestiltskin had his magic back, then perhaps there was a way to get the two of them back home. On the other hand, that he hadn't told her upset her almost as much as him experimenting on random crew members. She said a quick goodbye and headed towards the control center with a determined look on her face.

Rush looked up just as Belle came in to the room and smiled for a moment. As much as he didn't want to admit it, (and he had to be even more careful than usual) he couldn't help feeling better for her presence. Or rather he did, until something in the back of his mind, probably the imp, registered the look on her face. Belle was upset, and he was almost certain that he and or his passenger were the cause of that. "Probably ran into Park and that formerly babbling fool in the hall," Rumplestiltskin whispered. "I might have forgotten to mention that I was starting to get my magic back, though I'm certain she knew I was working on it."

"Belle, what brings you down here?" he asked, hoping pleasant and oblivious would work, though in the back of his head the imp was trying to convey how futile that was. Across the room, Brody and Volker both looked up. Neither man was used to Rush being particularly pleasant, and considering the look on her face, this was probably a conversation that should be taken somewhere else. Clearly Belle realised it to. Her face softened a little though he could see in her eyes that this wasn't nearly over.

"Dr. Rush, Mr. Brody, Dr. Volker," she greeted them all politely. "Dr. Rush, you said something about a ball bearing, or something of the sort for a darning egg. I thought I would get started on those socks."

"And I am among those who will be eternally grateful," Volker said with a genuine smile.

"You are the one that bugged out in dress shoes," Brody teased him, apparently it was a familiar subject.

"Next time I have to evacuate in advance of an alien attack, I'll remember that," he snapped back but there was no real bite to his words.

"I'll show you what I've found," Rush said, taking her gently by the arm and leading her out the door.

As it slide closed behind them, Volker looked at Brody. "You think he's got a thing for her?" he asked.

"Rush? Who knows. Didn't really think he was interested in...well anyone," Brody said with a shrug.

"But what could she possibly see in him?"

Brody looked at the closed door and then around carefully as if making certain no one was listening. "Eli said that the guy she is married to, that Mr. Gold?" Volker nodded. "Apparently he's the spitting image of Rush, like twins or something. He says that the necklace is a locket and there is a wedding picture of them, that he has seen it."

"Ok, that's weird even for here. Explains her, but doesn't explain why Rush is being so nice to her?" Volker asked. He had actually forgotten that the pretty woman who had appeared on Destiny had a husband somewhere, and while on the one hand he was all for respecting that, it wasn't like they were ever getting home. Still, after what he had just heard, it was probably best he put Belle Gold in the same category with Park, TJ and Chloe Armstrong, not to mention Camille Rey, the 'not going to happen list.

"None of my business," Brody said with a shrug. "Probably shouldn't be any of yours either."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you are enjoying this. So now the fate of Gold is out in the open and magic has come to Destiny. What do you think Belle will do when she gets the boys alone? And how long can they keep up appearances.


	16. More questions, few answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle confronts Rumplestiltskin and Rush about what happened to Cavanagh. Meanwhile back in Storybrooke, TJ asks questions and meets Henry.

The storage room that Rush had lead her into was full of random crates. "The ship was full of...things, and we are only very slowly beginning to go through all of them. I am sure that one of these..."

"Rumplestiltskin," Belle interrupted him sharply.

"I warned you," the voice in the back of his head whispered. "She's not like to let it go."

"I'm afraid not," Rush said, thinking maybe ignorance was the best way of handling this, though in the back of his mind, he knew that Gold (he just couldn't take his real name seriously) was shaking his head. "He..."

"He is in there and in all likelihood telling you right now that pretending ignorance won't get you anywhere with me. Unless you've suddenly developed magic of your own. Did you think I'd not notice the similarity to what you did to the Sheriff of Nottingham? Just please tell me you haven't got his tongue in your pocket or anything," she finished with a sigh of exasperation.

"No, I...what..." Rush said, having only followed some of what she said. "I don't know about...are you seriously asking me to believe that the Sheriff of Nottingham, as in Robin Hood's Sheriff..." In the back of his mind, the sorcerer was cackling in a rather sinister fashion.

"He made an obscene suggestion about Belle," he whispered. "So I made a deal with him, one that involved him getting his tongue back..." The visual made Rush just a touch queasy to tell the truth but he'd never admit it. Instead, he decided it was best to turn control over to her husband, and try to pretend he had nothing to do with their little marital spat.

"Belle, sweetheart," Rumplestiltskin said.

"Don't sweetheart me, Rumplestiltskin. Why didn't you tell me you had got your magic back? And why did you do...whatever it was to that poor man? Don't you think it will be suspicious? I can't lose you, what if they figure out something is wrong, or try to separate us?" she asked, anger and exasperation warring with fear and not a little bit of excitement that his magic was coming back and they might get home.

"I...I didn't want to tell you until I had figured it out myself. I've been able to feel it almost since we arrived, but...for lack of a better word, I couldn't touch it. To add to that, Rush doesn't believe in magic nor is this body trained for it. Simply put, I didn't want to get your hopes up, love," he said, reaching out to stroke her face. "Not until I was certain that I could use it."

"But now you know you can," she said, leaning into his touch, even though she knew she should still be mad at him. "And why did you risk everything on such a stupid display?" Belle pulled back, not completely willing to let him off the hook, at least not immediately.

"Would it help if I said it was necessary?" he asked.

"What on Earth would make taking that man's voice necessary?" she shouted, startling the three of them when the sound reflected around the small room. "I mean, what could have possibly..."

"It was that or murder him, really I thought you would prefer this option. I am certain that Greer would. Love, he makes Dr. Whale look positively modest and easy to cope with."

"Whale?" Rush asked from where he was mostly trying to ignore the conversation.

"Town surgeon, you would know him as Frankenstein," Rumplestiltskin shot quickly.

"Now I know you are taking the mickey, Frankenstein is a fictional character, not a fairy tale."

"No idea who or what the mickey is or where I'd be taking it, but Frankenstein is perfectly real. I found him in another realm while I was working on a little...well, it matters not at all. Suffice it to say he is pompous and arrogant, fortunately he is also almost but not quite as brilliant as he thinks he is, which is why he is at least twice as useful as that..."

"Arsehole?" Rush supplied helpfully.

"Exactly," Rumplestiltskin replied before turning back to his only slightly mollified wife. "Honestly, I was going to tell you, but I wanted to be certain that it would work. I...I've let you down so many times, I just couldn't..."

"You haven't let me down, Rumples," she said, and leaned in for a kiss. "Things have not always worked out the way we wanted them, but we are here, and we are together. At least we are together...more or less," she said.

"Speaking of suspicious..." Rush reminded him.

"Yes, we should find that egg for you. Don't want anyone getting the wrong idea about us being alone in here for so long," Rumplestiltskin said aloud, and Belle agreed. It only took moments after that to find something that would serve the purpose.

"And you will fix Dr. Cavanagh, right?" she said before he palmed the door open.

"Ahhh, of course, though perhaps I could wait until Greer..."

"Rumple," she said, warningly.

"Very well, love," he said, and with a second of concentration and a flourish, he nodded. "It's done." He shook his head just a bit.

"Are you alright?" she said instantly, aware that using magic could have some negative consequences. All magic had a price and he had drilled that into her back in the Enchanted Forest.

"Just took a bit more out of me than I expected. My magic is returning, but it's a bit slow is all," he said, smiling at her concern. It had been so long before her that anyone had cared for him, and it still felt so very good to see it, to know that she loved him.

"Then perhaps you shouldn't waste it on stupid tricks," she said, but her tone wasn't as sharp as he expected. He just nodded and hit the palm plate that opened the door in time to see Young enter. "Thank you for this," she said, picking up immediately on the Colonel's presence.

"Not at all," he said. "Colonel Young, what is it you need?"

"You to turn your radio on for a start," the larger man growled at the two of them. "What happened to Dr. Cavanagh?"

"My radio is on," Rush said, returning to his seat. "It simply wasn't on me. I just stepped away to help Belle find something to use for a darning egg." Belle held up the metal sphere in her hand for his inspection with a smile.

"Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me," she said. "I have those socks to attend to." There was a polite murmur of farewell and Belle left the room with a slightly lighter step. She wasn't happy with Rumple for keeping it from her, or for taking that man's voice either, but there was hope, and it was more than she had this morning.

"Now, Cavanagh..." Young said.

"I've no idea what happened to him, Colonel," Rush said. He had taken over at the sight of the man, as Belle was out of the room and there was less chance of the already irritated imp doing something unfortunate to him. He picked his glasses up off the desktop and took a sip of water before continuing. "Look, the man was in here rabbiting on about something and irritating everyone when suddenly words just stopped coming out of his mouth. As no one else was having a problem, and everyone, including him seemed to be breathing fine, I asked Brody to run an atmospheric diagnostic, and sent him to the infirmary with Park. I suppose it could have been some kind of sudden allergic reaction, but it's only a guess. I'm not a medical man, though I will say I'm grateful for whatever caused it. It's no wonder they sent him back from Atlantis."

The sound of the radio interrupted whatever it was Young was about to say, for which Rush was silently grateful. "Colonel Young, Dr. Rush." The voice was Dr. Park's.

"This is Young, go ahead, Dr. Rush is with me."

"Dr. Cavanagh's voice just came back," she said. "I was just about to run a diagnostic scan when he opened his mouth and started talking again."

"Best run the scan anyway," Rush said. "Should see if it can pick up something. Perhaps this was just a passing thing, but better to be safe." And keep him out of our hair for a little longer, he added to himself. The whole thing, the magic, the mythology, it was all a little too much for him, not to mention having to share his head and his body with a fairy tale character. He wasn't certain how much longer he could deal with it either. That thing earlier, the magic, it felt...good, but he didn't know what to make of it, as if it was some kind of strange electric surge. Dr. Rush didn't know what was happening but he couldn't help being curious about what caused it or how it was happening. Still he couldn't exactly run an electromagnetic body scan on himself while his alter ego was doing magic. That would definitely qualify as suspicious behavior, no matter what excuse he could come up with.

"Just...take care of it," Young growled. He couldn't prove that Rush had done anything, in fact, he wasn't sure that it was even possible. Still, the scientist certainly wasn't upset about whatever it was that had happened to Cavanagh. After receiving confirmation from Park, and realising that Rush wasn't going to tell him anything else, in fact the man had gone back to his monitor as if the Colonel wasn't there at all, he turned and left the room. Perhaps he could find Belle Gold, and try to talk to her, alone this time.

 

"You hadn't come by for your coffee, so..." the woman said as they came out of the office.

"Thanks Ruby, you're a lifesaver," Emma said, reaching for one of the cups. "Might as well start the introductions, since the town grapevine is probably already humming, Ruby Lucas, these are Lt. Johansen and Sgt. Greer, from the Air Force. They are here about Belle."

"Belle, since when does the Air Force investigate a missing person? Unless you've found her, have you?" Ruby said, all in one breath.

"Er...." TJ started. She was kind of surprised that the Sheriff had just come out and told the other woman. "Yes, a woman claiming to be Belle Gold has turned up, we are just here to establish her identity."

"Well, its not like you could check her wallet, that was found in the woods," Emma replied. "You had best get going," she said to Neal with a nod toward were Greer was standing looking at everyone suspiciously. Something about the look on his face triggered something inside her. She knew they weren't telling her everything, not lying exactly but definitely not telling her the whole truth.

"Best, yeah," Neal said, leaning over to kiss his wife before waving the Sergeant toward the door. "I'll call you after we're done, figure out where to meet you. Should I call David?"

"Probably, Mary Margaret is still at school, we can let her know afterward. Hey Ruby, can you go tell Moe French what's going on...I don't want to just call him."

"Yeah, that could be a little awkward. You want me to tell him to come here?" she asked. "I mean, you could do it in the middle of Granny's for all the privacy you're going to get, but.."

"Let's try to keep the circus to a minimum, okay?" the Sheriff said. TJ looked on in astonishment, she really hadn't expected them to just get introduced to the whole town with their mission explained to everyone who walked through the door. "And do you have any pictures of Belle, maybe from the tamest bachlorette party ever?" The other woman laughed, it apparently being some kind of running joke.

"Sure, I'll bring them by, unless you and the Lieutenant want to come over to the Diner for lunch?" Emma looked at TJ and then shrugged.

"Sure, let's deal with Moe first though, okay?" she said, clearly trying to get the other woman on her way.

"On it, see you later." Ruby hurried out of the office. She was never one to do things slowly, except possibly when her grandmother asked her.

"You've got questions?" The sheriff turned on her.

"You just told her what we are doing here?" TJ asked. Maybe she had been working in a classified top secret world too long.

"You've never lived in a small town have you?" Emma asked and was unsurprised when the Air Force officer shook her head. "Storybrooke is extremely small. Everyone in town already knows you are here. Strangers in town, in uniform, stopping straight away at the sheriffs station, that's more than bound to cause suspicion. Most of the people in this town have been here forever, even Belle's been here so long people have forgotten she was ever from anywhere else. You get it?"

"Not really, kind of like living on a small base, I suppose. Now, Moe French, that would be Maurice French, Belle's father?" TJ asked, checking the notebook where she had written down or tried to write down everything that Belle had told her, having to remember it until she got into Dr. Mehta's body.

"That's him, runs the flower shop. But listen, Moe hasn't been taking this very well. Belle is the only family he has, his wife died when she was a little girl. Also, he and Gold never...well, they aren't at each other's throats the way they used to be, but he might not be as...useful as you would like."

TJ nodded while making notes about what the Sheriff told her. "Not exactly taking it well? I understand. What can you tell me about Mr. Gold?"

"Gold? I...what do you want to know? I mean, he's my father in law. What's there to say? He's a lawyer, owns most of the town, runs the pawn and antique shop, but that's mostly a hobby. You want to know about his father, you are better off asking Neal."

"So he and Belle?"

"They are as in love as any two people I've ever seen. They would have probably gotten married sooner but there were things...It's a little complicated."

"Her father?"

"Yeah," Emma said, leaning back in her chair and trying to shake the feeling that there was something weirder than usual going on, and to figure out how to find out. Maybe a truth spell? Magic really wasn't her forte though. Perhaps she should call Regina or the Blue Fairy, but that would be suspicious, wouldn't it? How do you explain needing a nun? Maybe she could say Belle was catholic? Except that Belle, like Gold, wasn't a big fan of the Blue Fairy. Not that she and Regina were besties, or anything, but they had mostly gotten over their differences. "He wasn't keen on them together, and there were a couple incidents. I thought I was going to have to put them both in the cells for the night, but I'm not sure they wouldn't have found a way to strangle each other through the bars."

"Sounds like it. I guess he..." TJ stopped as once again footsteps ran down the hall and into the main part of the office, this time a teen aged boy with dark hair, a backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Hey Mom," he said, as he dropped the back pack in the chair of one of the empty desks before coming into her office and giving her a hug, all the while looking at TJ with open curiosity.

"Hey kiddo, what you doing here?" she asked looking at her watch, as if questioning whether he was skipping school.

"Half day today, remember? Figured I'd see if you had eaten yet. I stopped by the shop but Papa's not there. What's going on?" Looking at her son, suddenly Emma had an idea.

"This is Lieutenant Johansen with the Air Force," she introduced the other woman. "This is my son, Henry."

"You can just call me TJ, really. It's nice to meet you, Henry."

"So, is she here about Grandma Belle?" he said, shaking her hand politely, trying to look more adult than he was. Both women looked a little surprised at him. "What, strangers in town coming straight to the sheriff's office, that sounds like they are looking for something, and the only thing that has happened around here since...well in a while was Belle disappearing and Grandpa's...whatever happened to him," the boy had slowed down as he mentioned his grandfather, clearly upset. Emma dropped an arm around her son. It had taken time, but Henry and Rumplestiltskin had really started to bond, more than she had ever expected, honestly. Sometimes it worried her, but she knew that Gold would protect him no matter what. If anything he was over protective of his family. But what she hadn't been really prepared for was how much he thought like his grandfather. Rumplestiltskin was without a doubt one of the most intelligent people she had ever met. She didn't always like him or agree with him but she couldn't fault his intelligence. Neal had inherited that, and through him, Henry. Now she just needed to get him on board with her idea.

"Yes, she is. Her partner has gone up to the house with Neal to get some stuff to compare. Why don't you call Regina and see if she can meet you at Granny's? I'm going to take TJ and Sergeant Greer there when we finish talking to Moe before we go up to see your grandfather." She was hoping that he would understand why she wanted Regina to meet them at the diner. But he was a pretty smart boy.

"Alright, Mom. I need to go see Miss Blue though, I promised Miss Potter I would drop something off with her. Should I do it now, or wait?"

Yep, he's sharp as ever, Emma thought. But did they really need the Blue Fairy? Emma decided no, at least for now. She was neither a friend or enemy of the head of the fairies, though she could be appallingly self righteous, which got on Emma's nerves sometimes. Also she had refused to try to do anything to help Gold, swearing that it was because fairy magic did not mix well with what he was, which, since his curse had broken, no one was quite sure about. The only thing they knew for sure was that he still had magic. Still...that was all for later. "I think you can wait, but ask Regina, since you are staying with her tonight, right?"

"Yeah, I'm watching Roland so she and Robin can go out. Grace and August are coming over too. Pizza and movies."

"And going to bed on time, remember? Regina might let you get away with that but..."

"I know, don't make you use your super power on me. Yeah, I got it," he said, and winked at his mom. Yep, smart kid. He gave her a hug, and with a polite goodbye, was already out the door.

"Nice kid," TJ said to her.

"Good kid, at least most of the time. He doesn't try to get away with too much. Of course, he has his grandparent's to spoil him, not to mention his other mother."

"Other...." the woman started to say, when suddenly her eyes went unfocused and she shook her head as if she was waking up from a dream. "What the..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the lovely comments. Glad you are enjoying it, and besides they keep the muse happy and working. 
> 
> Next Chapter-- What happened to TJ and Young talks to Belle.


	17. Storybrooke Confidential

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which more questions are asked, and some answers are given.

The pick up truck pulled up to the large salmon pink Arts and Crafts mansion and stopped in the driveway behind the large black Cadillac. The ride over had been completely silent, neither of the men really knowing what to make of each other. Bae was used to keeping his own council, a habit he had honed over the years.

"That's some car," Greer said, looking at the well kept old car in front of them.

"Yeah, it's Pop's," he said, opening the door and getting out of the pick up.

"Looks well cared for," the tall man said. "Little surprised though, thought rich folk were all for driving new cars."

"My Papa wasn't born rich, he prefers to fix things. Besides, I believe we mentioned his leg. He's never found another car that was easy for him to get in and out of." His father would probably not be happy that he said so much, but right now anything that would get these people to say something, anything would help, his papa's dignity be damned. "Come on," he said, leading the man around towards the back door. It was force of habit. Only visitors went through the front door. Besides, he didn't necessarily want this guy poking around the house more than necessary. Straight through the kitchen, everything was exactly as it had been the day that his folks went out for their walk, he hadn't been able to face touching anything, and the cleaner had only done the actual cleaning. He knew for a fact that Belle's hairbrush was sitting on the table in the kitchen along with the book she had been reading. The only thing that had been moved was his father's chipped cup, or rather, their chipped cup, which was at the hospital with him.

Behind him, he heard the tall man stumble suddenly and turned. Greer was holding tight to the handrail blinking in confusion at the world around him. "Wha...." he started to say. But before anything else came out, he shook his head, and straightened back up. "I...uh...tripped," the man said lamely. "Up to early, not had breakfast yet either."

Bae looked at him suspiciously. Something wasn't right, and he knew it. For just a moment it seemed like he had been another person. Resolving to text Emma as soon as Greer wasn't looking, he just nodded and opened the door, gesturing the man inside.

 

"Sorry about that," TJ had said to the woman about a moment after...well whatever it was that happened had happened. A few minutes later, Moe French had come rushing into the room. His colour was high and he had probably run for the first time in...well ever, as far as she could remember. He was breathing heavily and holding a big photo album in his arms, probably at Ruby's direction. It was all lies but it would be more than enough to convince Lt. Johansen. She was pretty sure that Moe knew the score, just as much as everyone else, so Emma only paid half a mind to the conversation, turning instead to the text message from Bae.

'Something weird with this guy. Stumbled. For a minute looked like he didn't know where he was. WTF?'

Interesting, Emma thought. 'About 5 mins ago?' she texted back.

'Yes'

'Same happened here. Said something about blood sugar and getting up too early. Not buying it. Also, does she look like a Johansen to you? Regina meeting us at Granny's. Truth spell?'

'Magic you, not me, but good idea with Pop out of action.'

 

For just a moment, there was that slip, the feeling of Destiny sliding out of FTL. Rush looked up from his calculations and started punching keys. Looked like Destiny had found a planet for them. Sighing and wondering if he could figure out a reasonable way of either getting out of the recon, or of taking Belle with him. Of course, taking Young with them would also work. He just didn't necessarily trust the man on the ship with her when he wasn't within easy reach.

"Looks like five planets in the system, one class M," Brody said from his console. "Who's turn is it?" he looked at Volker.

"Let us see what the kino says first, shall we?" Rush said sharply as he turned to head to the gate room, hoping that the drop out of FTL hadn't occurred at an inopportune moment for the two in Storybrooke.

"But this is perfect," Gold whispered. "The residents of Storybrooke are used to magic, and if they suddenly change, well, my daughter in law is a smart woman, smarter than she gives herself credit for. Between her and Bae, they will at least figure out a way to get a message back to us."

"Easy for you to say," Rush murmured under his breath. "Assuming they weren't driving when it happened or something equally dangerous."

"What was that?" Dr. Mehta asked looking up from the console she had been studying when he had entered.

"Wondering what is on the other side of the gate. I wasn't expecting that we would drop out for another several hours. Tell me, what did you see, when you..." he didn't exactly know how to put it delicately, and besides, he was hardly know for his delicacy.

"Not much, an office, maybe? There was a blond woman I was talking to, then I was back here."

"Emma. Excellent," the voice in the back of his head provided, "In all likelihood, she is at the Sheriff's station. Good, she is keeping them contained." Rush simply grunted what might have been agreement to either of them, and watched the gate dial.

 

"That was...interesting," TJ said carefully as Moe French made his way out the door.

"What do you mean?" Emma was trying to be careful but the woman was lying to them and it was really setting Emma's teeth on edge. It didn't help that TJ seemed to genuinely like Belle and seemed to want to help them. That's what she hated about Military types, too many rules and regs.

"He just seems to be so...guilty?" The woman answered. She seemed to be trying to formulate polite answers at least.

Emma thought a moment and then decided that a little guilt might be good for the other woman too. "Belle is Moe's only child. Her mother died when she was really young, and he raised her on his own so he's always been over protective. Plus, I think he blames himself."

"Blames himself how?" TJ asked while Emma tried to decide how thick to lay it on.

"Well, you have to understand, this is a small town, and the man is a florist, not a high profit occupation, if you catch my drift. So he got into debt with Gold and couldn't pay him back."

"Is your father in law some kind of loan shark?" TJ asked, not entirely certain whether she was joking. "Storybrooke's own Godfather?" Emma smiled or tried to. It might be a little closer than the woman thought.

"Not exactly. He owns most of the real estate, and has been known to make the odd private loan, strictly legal of course. Anyway, " she said, trying to get back to the story and away from the more difficult aspects of her father in law, especially trying to translate them into 'normal world' terms. "Any way, Belle agreed to work for Gold to help pay off her father's debt."

"I thought she was a librarian?" TJ asked, interrupting her.

"She is, this was a while ago, right before she went away for college I think. I wasn't here at the time. Anyway, she started working for him, they fell in love, Moe didn't approve, that is the long and short of it. There was a lot of back and forth after that, I think he was hoping time away would break them up, but no dice. I think he blames himself for all of it, their marriage, Belle's disappearance, everything. If he hadn't got into debt, if she hadn't gone to work for him...You catch my drift."

TJ smiled a little. "OK, that I get, I am fluent in over protective dad. Mine was really unhappy about me joining up, but medical school doesn't pay for itself." They nodded, and Emma gave an inward sigh of relief. "He's obviously proud of her, though."

"Oh, he's mostly okay. He and Gold haven't tried to kill each other since before the wedding." Emma paused and looked at her phone. "Okay, that's Neal, they are done at the house. Time to head over to Granny's. We can at least fix that 'not eating breakfast' thing for you. The food is great, and then we can go to the hospital and see Gold."

"You don't have to go with us, you know," TJ said. She wasn't sure why she was bothering. It was pretty clear that strangers in town were pretty rare, and that until there were some answers about Belle, they weren't going to let them out of their sight, still, it would be easier.

"Yeah, I do. First, its a small town and I doubt anyone would talk to you without me, we all look out for each other here, and everyone in town is worried about Belle. Second...Gold and I may not always get along, but he's my father in law, and my son's grandfather. Bae...Neal goes out to see him every day, just to sit with him. So, you see, not out of the way at all."

 

At the diner they were waved to a table in the back of the room by Ruby Lucas, while an older woman looked on, a suspicious look on her face. In fact, TJ noticed, everyone in the small restaurant was looking at them with a certain amount of...not exactly hostility, perhaps distrust was the right word. As they moved towards the table, a short man with a head full of grizzled hair and a beard that looked like it hadn't been trimmed recently got up off his stool and started towards them, a pugnacious look on his face.

"Leroy," Emma said, stopping in front of him. "Not now."

"What do you mean, Sister, not now? Then when, we need answers, Belle is missing, and she knows where we can find her." He pointed at TJ aggressively. A couple of other men sitting with him nodded in agreement. One man, bigger than the rest started to stand, but Emma waved him back.

"We will take care of this, Leroy, I promise you. But right now, you need to calm down and..." The door behind them opened admitting the man who had identified himself as Seargent Greer, followed by Henry who ran up just as his Papa was opening the door, and with him, Regina. Leroy took one look at the latest arrival, met Emma's eyes and nodded. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Regina's arrival was no coincidence.

"Alright then..." he grumbled. "Better..." He turned on his heel and headed out the door, followed after a moment by the taller man.

Greer, who had walked into the middle of it, was instantly on alert, which seemed to fit oddly on his long frame, but Emma didn't quite know what to make of it. It had taken her a while to figure out what it was that was bothering her, but they both moved wrong for a lack of a better word, as if their bodies didn't fit. But rather than think to much about that right now, she waved them to the table. Regina was taking a seat at the counter, while Henry went to greet his father and meet the other man. If they had know better, they might have been suspicious, or maybe it was that they were always suspicious so the generally odd behavior of Storybrooke didn't faze them, Emma wasn't certain which. Still, she noted with satisfaction that after Regina sat down and ordered food for herself, and Henry, people began to pay their bills, slowly, not in a rush, but as if it was always the plan. That was Storybrooke, if Emma and Regina were involved together, and it wasn't something with Henry, that probably meant magic, and most of the citizens knew where to be when that happened: far away. Emma Swan smiled. There were definitely things to do, first there was lunch. Then there would be answers, whether they wanted to give them or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Robin4 for her Beta, and to all those who have left Kudos and comments. They keep the muse going. So, who knows who the other man with Leroy in Granny's is?
> 
> Next time--Young finally talks to Belle alone, and Rumple and Rush go planet side. (promise this time)


	18. What about Belle?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation between Young and Belle doesn't go as he planned. Meanwhile on the planet...

Belle was just about to return to her quarters when Colonel Young came into the mess. The colonel was exactly the last person she wanted to see, especially right now, but she wasn't particularly surprised. Rush (and Rumple) were on the other side of the Stargate, exploring a planet which apparently was abundant in something that they needed desperately and which Rush was the one with the expertise in how to find and extract. It hadn't made either of them happy but there was very little that could be done without making people suspicious. She had promised that she would spend most of the time he was gone in her quarters, assuming that TJ and Greer didn't return from Storybrooke first. In fact, she would still have been there, content to darn socks and wait for her husband, had Chloe not stopped by to drag her to lunch. She had apparently gotten the location of her quarters from Rush, or Rumple, not that she would know which. "If I have to eat it, you have to too," she had said with a friendly smile, and Belle had reluctantly agreed, both with her, and with her sentiment that she hoped they found something worth eating done on the planet.

She enjoyed herself, she admitted. Chloe was a lovely girl, bright and pleasant. But she was uncomfortable being out and about without Rumple, or at least Rush even on the ship. Now it had happened, Young finally had her alone. Not that she exactly feared the man, but she wasn't comfortable with him either. And after their rather rocky start, she didn't trust him one bit.

"Mrs. Gold," he said.

"Colonel. I'm afraid your socks aren't finished yet. Darning is a slow process, especially with the limited material," she said, trying to focus on things that he needed to ask her. She didn't want to prolong the conversation any more than necessary.

"That's fine, take your time. But for now, I would like to talk to you."

"I really have no time, Colonel. I have things that I need to finish," Belle said, turning away from him.

"Mrs. Gold, please, I insist. Allow me to walk you back to...whereever you are going," he said, gesturing for her to proceed him out the door. Belle wasn't thrilled but she could tell she didn't have much of a choice. Besides, she couldn't let the man get suspicious, not while TJ and Greer were away in Storybrooke, and Rush was on the planet with Rumple.

"Very well, I am returning to my quarters," she said, hoping that she was clear enough that she wasn't keen on prolonging the encounter.

"I thought you had been working on the Observation deck?" he asked as they left the mess hall.

"I was. But I am a bit of a novelty around here. Mostly everyone has been polite, but this work requires concentration," she explained though her voice was a bit tight. She wanted to make it clear that she didn't particularly want his company.

"Mrs. Gold, I think we got off on the wrong foot with one another," he began. "I..."

"Is that what you call insulting both myself and my husband?" she asked.

"I know that I didn't handle it as well as I perhaps should have. This situation has been...suffice it to say we are way beyond the rule book out here, and I don't think there are rules to cover this anyway. I'm used to a certain level of paranoia, and I needed to see how you would respond to those kinds of questions. I'm not particularly proud of myself, but I won't apologise for doing my job, only for the fact that it upset you and has effected our interactions."

"There is doing your job and then there is being rude. I understand that you had to do your job," Belle said. She needed to think. It seemed that Young was determined to try to get on her good side. In general, Belle preferred not to be at odds with people. Still, she didn't trust Young, and she knew that neither Rush nor Rumple cared for him. Perhaps if she tried to be more pleasant to him he would be less suspicious. Just as long as he didn't try to spend too much time with her. There was just something about the way he looked at her, like she was some kind of puzzle that he wasn't too sure of. Of course she supposed that he had every right to be suspicious of her but that didn't mean she was necessarily going to forgive him.

For a moment she just looked at him, to see if her words had sunk in, then she continued. "Growing up in a small town, marrying a man almost twenty years my senior, I have heard it all before. Yes, I have an older husband, a step son that is only two years younger than I am, and an almost teen aged grandson, and I wouldn't change anything about that it except my current location. You are not the first person to be suspicious of me or to make assumptions about my relationship, my own father wasn't keen when we first started seeing one another. I wouldn't accept it from him, I most certainly am not going to accept it from a stranger to whom I owe no explanations about my life choices."

"And you had every right to react the way you did," Young said, touching his cheek a little ruefully. "I'm not a diplomat."

"Probably best," she said, smiling just a little. So she was to be subjected to Young's charm, she thought. There were worse things, she supposed. "But when TJ and Greer return, you will have your answers, and I will hopefully have some of mine as well. Thank you for walking me back but this is me," she said, pausing outside her door. "And I have a great deal of work to get done." She wanted to make it very clear that she had no intention of inviting him in to continue the conversation, nor was she going to allow him any closer than she had to.

"Yes, of course. those socks won't darn themselves," he said with a bit of a laugh.

"Colonel Young, " Belle said as she hit the palm plate for her door. "Just so we understand each other, if you ever say anything like that about my husband again, a little slap will be the least of your worries."

"Are you threatening me, Mrs. Gold?" he asked though his voice was light, almost teasing.

"No, I never threaten, I'm promising you." There was a sweet smile on her face that never wavered.

"Very well."

"It's always good to know where you stand with someone," she said. Fortunately at that moment, his radio began to squawk and he turned to answer it as Belle went inside. As the door sealed behind her, she let out a sigh of relief. That hadn't gone too badly. She wasn't sure she liked him any better, but if he didn't get any more suspicious of them, and it made things easier, then she would manage, at least until Rumplestiltskin got them back home.

 

On the planet, Rush had just finished performing another chemical test on some minerals that should allow them to run the air recyclers more efficiently and for longer. The concentrations were much higher than what they had found before. Additionally the planet had water, and a great abundance of plant life, much of which, so far, had passed the field tests. It wouldn't necessarily make them edible, but until someone took the initiative and tried it, they wouldn't know for sure. Usually that was Sergeant Greer, but thus far no one had stepped up.

"Are you finished yet?" Gold grumbled in the back of his head. Being away from Belle was making the other man difficult, well more difficult, to deal with. He couldn't blame him, really. He wanted to get back to her as well, and that thought scared him not a little, especially since he wasn't certain if those feelings were his or his passenger's. That one of those options could be fatal had kept him locking himself down as much as he could. After all, he wasn't just going to come out and ask him if that was...well normal. Thinking about it was giving him a headache, though. Actually, pretty much everything gave him a headache these days, and a not insignificant part of their shared psyche was worried about what possible damage was being done by having the two of them sharing like this, not that there was any way to ask. He wondered if he could get TJ to run a scan, maybe tell her he was having headaches?

"Do you really want to have to explain it if they find something really unusual? Or risk them sending some kind of doctor?" the imp sneered.

He didn't not agree with the other man, though he didn't completely agree either. Too many variables. Right now, though, he agreed that he wanted to finish up here and get back. He didn't trust Young at all, and certainly not near Belle.

"The girl, TJ and that big muscle bound soldier will be back soon as well. I want to know what has happened to my body, among other things. Surely Emma and Regina will have figured something out, some way to tell them what I need to know."

"Regina, the one that told you Belle was dead?" he asked.

"We have a...complicated relationship. It is not helped by the fact that she raised my grandson until only a few years ago. Henry would be devastated if I did something unfortunate to her. Besides, she is much better now. Like me, she has someone that is worth trying to be a better person for."

"If it gets you out of my head..." he said, not wanting to think about any of those things, about what it would mean to have someone like Belle to care for him. Perhaps, if he and Gloria had ever had children, but by the time they were considering it, the cancer had come, the first round having taken away her ability, and his will. He had no desire to try to raise their child without her.

"Talking to yourself again, Rush?" Lieutenant James asked, striding up to him with a mostly friendly smile.

"I have to find someone to have an intelligent conversation with," he said, but he managed not to be as sharp as he usually was; his head hurt too badly. "No, just reviewing these readings. We should be able to keep the air clean for quite a while with all this. How are we doing on the water and food?"

"A lot of things appear to be edible; we sent several sled loads back to the ship. Those things that look like purple spikey apples? We have a whole load of them. All the water cans are full. We are getting a sled for your stuff. There are something like deer running around, Scott is seeing if he can kill one of them, maybe get us some meat, if it's even edible."

"I'll not lie, some meat would not go amiss," he said, "but for now, this is ready to go and so am I." Picking up his field kit, he turned around. "Now, best get that stuff loaded and get back to the ship." He paused as he passed a bush with large red flowers and broke one off.

Interesting, very interesting, James thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, and I hope you are still enjoying. As usual, thank you to Robin4, my beta for keeping my sentax straight. Please remember, comments and all those other lovely things feed the muse and right now mine is needing all the help she can get.
> 
> Next time---Meanwhile back in Storybrooke...


	19. Inconvieniant Truths.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina get some answers, and Young makes some unfortunate assumptions.

The diner was almost empty by the time they had finished eating. TJ had to admit, getting real food that actually required chewing was worth just about any hassle even the awkward situation they found themselves in. Greer had ordered the hamburger and fries on the recommendation of Mr. Gold's son, while she had gotten the lasagna. "This is really good," she said, having realised that the conversation had fallen off while she and Greer had stuffed their faces. Nothing weird about that, she thought to herself, they are going to think that the Air Force doesn't feed us.

"Granny will be glad to hear it," Ruby said as she refilled their water and coffee. Real coffee. She almost swooned. Going back to their artificial coffee substitute was going to suck.

"We haven't been off base for a while," Greer said, as he dipped his french fries in more ketchup, and giving a big smile.

"It's certainly emptied out," the medic said, looking around. Where before their had been a bunch of people, now there was only them, the woman at the counter, who TJ assumed was the 'Regina' that Emma had mentioned, and their son, Henry who was sitting with her.

"Lunch rush is pretty early around here, unless it's tourist season," Emma said with a shrug.

"And the other woman over there, I assume that is Regina? She's..." TJ left it, not sure how to bring the subject up. They were not really here to poke into everyone's personal life, but still.

"Regina Mills, she used to be the mayor, she's also Henry's other mother," Emma said shortly, in a tone that didn't exactly welcome questions.

"How's that work out?" Greer asked, oblivious to the tension, or at least pretending to be.

"Emma and I were both young when she got pregnant. Not in a place to be parents. Regina adopted Henry, open adoption. When we got back together, we kind of...worked things out." Neal's explanation was clear and quick. This time, Greer took the hint and turned his attention to his fries again. "Now how about you tell me how my Mom is?" he shot back.

TJ looked at them. She had been trying to decide when or how to bring up the message that Belle had asked her to give Emma right before she had picked up the stones. It was a little awkward, especially when they couldn't tell her where she was, or how she was going to get back to them. But looked at Emma now, she was fairly certain that it wasn't going to get any easier. "She is fine, at least physically. She..she's worried, of course, about..."

"About my father," Neal said, gesturing for her to continue.

"She told me to tell Emma that she was alright, that Dr. Rush was looking after her, and..." TJ paused. It sounded silly, even when Belle had told her, said it was very important, that Emma would understand.

"And?" Emma said, giving her a hard look.

"She said she would be alright, that he made her feel like Rumple was with her?" The message didn't sound any better when she said it out loud, but the effect on Emma and Neal was immediate. Before she could ask what it meant she thought she saw a puff of purple smoke...

"That is quite enough of that," Regina said, standing up from the counter and walking over to where she had frozen the two officers in their place.

"I was wondering when you were going to do something," Emma said.

"I needed to wait 'til I was sure that the Truth potion had time to work. Much easier than digging through their minds," the former evil queen said. "Besides, they don't need to know any more about our lives. Neal is a poor liar." Ruby Lucas has already locked the door and turned the closed sign, not that anyone from town would really interfere but better to be on the safe side.

"You can do that?" Emma asked, ignoring the other comments. She was not sure she really wanted the answer but as she was learning to use her magic, albeit unwillingly, it was important.

"I could," she said. "Not very well though. I never really had the patience for that kind of subtle work. Rumplestiltskin..." She left the sentence hanging. They all understood. "Now, let's deal with these two, I can't leave them frozen for long, they will notice the lost time if nothing else."

"Yeah, let's get some answers, maybe we can figure out what Belle meant. It sounds a little like Gold is with her, or with Rush, whoever or whatever he is."

"Okay then," Regina said impatiently, and they all knew as much as she pretended, she cared for the old sorcerer who had been her first magic teacher. Before she did anything else, Regina examined them with her magic. "There is something wrong with these two, they feel like...like they are two different people, at first I thought some kind of disguise spell, but that isn't it," she said confused.

"We could just ask them," Emma pointed out. "That was kind of the point of that truth potion you had Ruby slip them, wasn't it?" Regina shrugged at her, as if to say it was up to her, but a tendril of magic passed over the two of them. They still looked glassy, Regina hadn't completely released them. They could respond but not move, and if she had done this right (and knowing Regina, she had) they wouldn't remember any of this. "Okay who are you, and where is Belle?"

"I'm Tamara Johansen, and Belle is on Destiny with me," the small woman said. They all looked at each other in confusion.

"The problem with a truth potion," Regina said before anyone else could say a word, "is that you have to ask the right questions. What is Destiny?" she asked immediately.

"An Ancient starship, traveling through the galaxy," was the answer.

"Grandma Belle's on a space ship? Cool!" Henry said, before he really registered that the adults had more or less forgotten he was there. "Or it would be, if you know..." he said, tempering his enthusiasm a little as he tried to figure out how to express himself.

"We get it, kiddo," Bae said, reaching out for his son. "So, why can't you just return Belle to us?" he asked, his turn.

"Can't get home. We are on the far side of the Galaxy, or maybe another Galaxy, I'm not sure," TJ answered woodenly though the question seemed to push something inside her.

"Then how are you here?" Regina asked, wanting the answer to the question that had been bothering her from the beginning.

"Not here, not really...ancient technology, it lets us...swap bodies," she explained. "No one knows how it works not even Rush."

"Is that even possible?" Emma asked. Everyone looked around, unsure what to say, or even what to ask next.

"Theoretically... with the right magic I'm sure, but this doesn't feel like any magic I know of," Regina said, confused. "Technology? I wouldn't know, and I don't think Rumplestiltskin would either. The question is, what did she mean about Rumple and who the hell is Rush?"

"Show her," Emma said, and Greer reached into his inside pocket and removed a photograph.

"That's...almost Rumplestiltskin," Regina said.

"Looks like Grandpa," Henry agreed over her shoulder before backing up a little, hoping no one would think to get him out.

"Exactly. Is it possible that he is some kind of... I don't know, projection of Gold? That he's there too?"

"I don't think that's possible, and if it was, I'm not sure he would be able to physically manifest, but I'm out of my depth here," Regina admitted. It wasn't an easy thing for her to admit, ever.

"How long have you know Dr. Rush?" Bae asked the two soldiers.

"'bout two years too long," Greer grumbled.

"Since before Icarus base," TJ said. "I've been with the project for four years, transferred in, he was there when I started."

"Okay, so I'm no expert but I don't think even my Pop could manage a projection that would convince them they had known him that long, unless their memories are being tampered with," Bae said. "We need to think, and we can't keep them like this for much longer. How long will the potion last?"

Regina looked at her watch. "Probably another ten minutes, best hold them until them. If they were suddenly being absolutely honest with us, that might be more than a little suspicious. Meanwhile, we need to find out exactly what happened the night that Belle disappeared. I'm pretty certain this is some kind of magic and not their technology," she said as if it was a bad word.

"Right, last honest questions," Emma said impatiently. She needed to feel like she was doing something and at the moment, there was nothing else she could do. Still, Belle meant something when she sent her message, it wasn't just random. "Tell me about Dr Rush."

"Arrogant fuck, thinks he knows more than everyone else," Greer said.

"He usually does know more than everyone else, at least where the science is concerned. Brilliant, arrogant, obsessive about his work, and about Ancient technology, he doesn't really care about anything or anyone else, really, including himself. He's got no social skills, doesn't really like people, works until he falls down, then just starts over again," TJ added, her assessment probably a good deal more useful.

"Sneaky bastard too, can't trust him. Scrappy though, not above a little fighting."

"Irascible, anti social. Or at least he was, until Belle came."

 

"Explain," Emma asked. She wasn't exactly certain but there might be something there. The room was completely silent.

"He has been...helping her get settled, showing her the ship, things like that. For the most part he could care less what the rest of the crew are doing. But he turned up in Observation when Telford was there, and looked like he was going to get into it with him."

"And this has never happened before?" Bae asked, wondering whether or not he should worry, or what exactly he could do from across the Universe.

"Most of the time I think that he would rather that no one was there but him. Since Belle came, he has been eating in the mess with her, and he turned off his radio the other night. That's not like him. If anything I've seen more of him since Belle turned up. Before he rarely left his work space."

"Told the Colonel it's because she's naturally inclined to trust him," Greer put in. "Plus wanting to find out what how she got out there."

"Okay, that's it, we need to wrap up. The potion's going to wear off any minute." Everyone nodded. Regina and Henry returned to their seats at the counter, while Ruby turned the lock and the sign. Then that puff of magic, and they were freed. Not that anyone was likely to come in, but...

TJ blinked once, realised that she had stopped in the middle of what she was saying, and then tried to pick up the thread. "Yeah, does that mean anything to you? What's a Rumple?"

Before they could answer (or try to figure out a really good lie), Ruby appeared with the coffee pot. "So, desert?" she asked brightly as she came over to the table. "We have a great chocolate cake or blueberry pie."

 

When Rush stepped through the event horizon of the Stargate behind the kino sled loaded with supplies, his thoughts were focused on two things. Neither of them was running straight into Colonel Young, in fact he was the furthest thing from his mind.

"Rush, I...what is that?" the Colonel asked, having noticed the large flower.

"I'd have thought it was obvious, even to you, Colonel," he said sarcastically. "It's a flower, from the planet below."

"Since when have you developed an interest in Botany?" Young said. Rush had no real interest in continuing this conversation, certainly not when he could be with Belle, or any where else for that matter. He tried to step around the colonel but the man moved to block him.

"I haven't particularly, or no more than any other science. But Belle's father is a florist, I thought she would find a flower from another planet of interest, more than what she is doing, at any rate," he said, once again trying to avoid the other man. This time he made it through the door before Young stopped him, grabbing him by the arm.

"If I find out you are trying to..." he growled urgently at the scientist. Rush pulled away with a disgusted look.

"You think I am trying to get a leg over with her, is that it?" he spat back. "A bit hypocritical don't you think? I'm not the one who is known to have had an inappropriate relationship with a colleague, now am I?" He sneered at the look of shock on Young's face and decided to press the advantage. "Yes, Colonel, even I knew about your little affair with Lt. Johansen, and I am not one to pay attention to idle gossip."

Young looked as if he had been struck. He was pretty sure his relationship with TJ had been under wraps, well more or less. If Rush knew...well. Still, he had to make sure that his message was clear. "My relationships are not under question here," he said, trying to get a little of his own back.

"Neither are mine, as far as I know. Now if you will excuse me, I'd like to drop this off so that I can get back to work." Young was still standing in the corridor when Rush turned his back and stalked down the hall, Rumplestiltskin growling about revenge in his ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been so long to update. I am afraid I came back from Dragon Con sick, which is not uncommon, and only now have really had the chance to write.


	20. Back again

It took a moment for TJ to register that the waitress was back. She just wasn't used to this level of...openness? She wasn't certain but it seemed that no one was making even the slightest show of keeping a secret and having worked for a top secret military organization, it just seemed strange to her.

"I think I'll have a slice of that blueberry pie," Greer said with a big grin that seemed at odds with his weedy blond appearance.

"Good choice," she said, and as soon as TJ had requested chocolate cake she left them again. TJ was just looking forward to chocolate, real chocolate. The chocolate had been gone on Destiny for a while now, unless someone was hiding it. At this point a piece of chocolate could buy you just about anything on the ship, probably including sexual favours. "Err...where was I?" TJ asked, blinking a little as she tried to figure out exactly how she had lost track of the conversation. "Oh, Belle's message, right. What is a Rumple, or is it a who?" she asked.

Bae and Emma looked at each other. They hadn't actually discussed that while they had the two of them under, and now they were regretting it. Finally after a silence that was just starting to hit the awkward point, Bae opened his mouth. "It...um..." he began carefully while silently begging Emma to back him up. "It's kind of a personal nickname Belle has for my Pop. She probably figured that it would convince Papa, or even us, that it was really her and not just some weird...something. It wouldn't mean anything to anyone else."

"Belle's a smart woman," TJ said. "I suppose it's as good a way as any other. I wonder why she calls him that. Rush, I could believe, he almost always looks like he either just fell out of bed, or hasn't been there in the first place."

"Not clue," he said, praying he was keeping a straight face.

"And I don't want to know," Emma said with a certain amount of vehemence. Bae and Ruby both laughed and the girl put the desert on the table. "You know what I mean, those two are worse than teenagers." They all laughed. It seemed to reduce the tension some what.

"Now, I know you want to see Gold, is there anything else you need? Not to rush you but the sooner you get back to where you belong, the faster you can do whatever you need to do, the sooner we can get through the red tape and get Belle back home."

This time it was the two Air Force Officers who looked uncomfortable, and Bae and Emma didn't fail to notice. "Yeah, I will take a look at...er..."

"Can someone show me where you found Mr. Gold?" Greer asked, not really having any interest in going to look at Rush's doppleganger, in or out of a hospital. He wasn't all that fond of hospitals in any case. Not that he was expecting to find anything, not after a couple of weeks. He wasn't even sure what kind of strange alien technology he was looking for. If he didn't though, he knew he would have Rush on his ass for not doing his job.

 

"Eli, can I speak to you?" Colonel Young asked, poking his head into the bay that served as both his quarters and the kino control center.

"Sure, Colonel, what do you need?" he asked, spinning around in his chair to face the man.

"Wanted to ask you what you have come up with, about Rush," he said, reminding the younger man of what he had asked him to do before, what he had tried very hard to forget about.

"What about him?" Eli said vaguely. "He's been pretty much the same as always. I mean, he hasn't been yelling quite as much, but..."

"I asked you to keep an eye on him, Eli."

"I...um..." the young man stuttered. He hadn't gotten any more comfortable with the colonel's request in the couple of days since he had made it.

"I'm going to take that as a 'no'?" the colonel asked, eyeing the younger man with something like disappointment.

"No," Eli replied defensively. "I just haven't noticed anything, not really. Yeah, he's been in the mess hall more regularly. He actually stayed and ate dinner last night, but he's not really any different than he ever was, just maybe taking care of himself a little better, but then TJ's been threatening him again too, so I don't know."

"What about putting a kino on him?" he asked. Eli wasn't certain exactly what was up with Young, but he liked to stay out of the battle between the two men. Still he shot that idea down immediately.

"Understand, Colonel, it's not that I won't so much as I can't," he explained. That he wouldn't if he could, he left out, figuring it was probably better that way. "First, it would have to be done by hand, as in someone would have to actually operate it to get it to follow him. That is not something I can program and well, even if I could...it's just not..."

"Eli, I understand that you might feel a certain amount of loyalty to Rush," Young said with a sigh. "But there are other things to considered. Belle, for example. What if Rush is taking advantage of the situation somehow?"

"You mean like taking advantage of Belle, like...Rush?" he asked, looking at the Colonel in disbelief. "I don't think so. I mean, he's been more or less nicer than usual, at least to her. But that's because he wants to find out about the tech. I mean Rush... To be honest, I don't think he's noticed that she's...well, you know, a beautiful woman. Besides, she's married, like really married. She talks about her husband all the time."

"But her husband looks a whole lot like Rush, and I would hate for him to try to use that to take advantage of that. I'm just trying to protect everyone." Eli didn't reply. He was pretty certain that the Young hadn't said anything about Chloe and Scott, or any of the other couples who were at it on the ship, and those were the ones under his command. Of course saying anything wasn't likely to get him anywhere. Right now he needed a solution that would make the colonel happy without getting him in deep shit with Rush.

"I guess so," he said reluctantly. "Let me think about it, Colonel, maybe I can rig something...I don't know..." Eli felt miserable about it, especially since Belle was a nice lady and didn't need anymore problems than she already had. But maybe all he needed was a little time.

"You do that, Eli, but do it quickly," he said. "I'd hate for anything to happen to her."

 

Rumplestiltskin, with his unwilling passenger along, had found Belle in her quarters. As expected, she had loved the flower, taking it and setting it in the small basin until she could get something to put it in. "Try Hydroponics, sweetheart," Rumple said, though the suggestion had come from Rush. "I'm sure that they have something down there..." he waved vaguely.

"Rumple, are you..." she asked, noticing something off in his tone.

The sorcerer had been aware of the headache building strength in the back of his mind for some time, but it had finally gotten bad enough that he was having a little trouble stringing a thought together. "Just a headache, love," he said, "a bit of an argument with Young. He's afraid I am taking advantage of you or will if he doesn't watch me."

"It's none of his business," she said. "But you shouldn't antagonise him, especially not now. Why don't we go and get you some of those headache tablets and then maybe a rest. I think the two of you are overtaxing yourselves."

In the back of his mind, Rush tried to hide the warmth he felt at the fact that Belle seemed genuinely concerned about both of them, which was more than he could say for the imp he was stuck with. If he were to drop dead (or was that even possible, like with the stones) the other man would probably not even notice until he needed him for something. Instead, he whispered his silent thanks as she dragged the two of them off in search of some pain reliever.

After he had drunk several cups of water and taken the pills she had given him, Rumplestiltskin curled up in the back of his mind rather like a cat, for a nap. Of course, the moment Belle left, Rush dragged himself off to the console room. After all, she had ordered her husband to rest, nothing about him, no matter how much he might wish otherwise. Besides, he was already feeling much better with only one of them awake in his head. Perhaps that was the problem, or possibly the solution to the recurring headache. If only one of them was conscious, perhaps that would reduce the pressure, at least he wondered if it would. It was something he thought he should probably discuss with...well the rest of him when the other man woke up.

Belle put her husband and Dr. Rush to bed, and then found herself a bit at loose ends. She needed a break from darning socks for one thing, and to find something better for the flower Rumple had brought her for another. Then there were the other things. She wanted her clothes back, and to be out of the fatigues that she had been loaned, but there weren't a lot of options. Besides, she should find out what they did about laundry on this ship sooner rather than later.

After a bit of a wander, Belle ran into Camille, who was willing to address her questions and they settled down in the mess for a bit of an introduction into things that, as she told the other woman, she 'just wasn't comfortable discussing with Dr. Rush'. They had talked for longer than Belle had actually expected, and she was sitting in the mess trying to process everything she had learned when a familiar voice addressed her.

"Hey there," he said. The voice was familiar, but the person was not. She recognised immediately that Greer was still not in possession of himself. So far, at least once he figured that she wasn't some kind of alien trying to take over the ship, Greer had been polite and a bit formal with her, as if he wasn't entirely sure how to catagorize her. She knew he wasn't that way with the other woman on board, so it was probably something that came with time. Still, the friendly (a little overly so) address coming from his mouth left her disconcerted.

"Hello," she said politely as she could. "You are...not Sergeant Greer," Belle said.

"Dr. Derek Cavanagh," he introduced himself. "And you must be Belle Gold," he said with what he probably thought was a charming smile. Already she could see the little differences, the way he held himself, the way he spoke.

"Pleased to meet you," she said as politely as she could.

"So, since this is my first trip out here, maybe you'd care to show me around? One new comer to another?"

"I...really don't know my way around yet. Perhaps you could ask Camille or Chloe?" she said, though she was fairly certain that neither of them would be any more interested.

"Neither of them is here right now, and I'll be headed back soon, so I just thought..."

"I'd be thinking 'bout gettin' back to yer work rather than standing 'round at least if you've the brains..." Rush growled from behind him. He'd not been best pleased on walking into the mess for more water to find Cavanagh in the room and less pleased with him talking to his...to Belle. Keeping things straight was becoming a little difficult and the headache that had subsided threatened to come back.

"Dr. Rush...I...er..." the man started but before he could say more, the radio crackled to life, calling Cavanagh and Mehta to the communication room.

"Alright?" he asked her as he filled his glass.

"Fine," Belle said looking around to see that no one was paying them any mind, at least now that Rush's victim had scurried off. "What are you doing up?"

"Ahhh, technically, I'm not," he said, gesturing for her to follow him behind the man wearing Ronald Greer's body. "Your husband is still asleep," he said quietly to her.

"I thought I sent you both to get some sleep," she told him. She didn't seem to be best pleased either, but that was Gold's problem or so he told himself. Especially since right now they were hopefully going to get some answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been a while. RL shite and a little trouble with inspiration. Hope you like it, please read and enjoy. Comments gratefully recieved, they keep the author and the muse happy.


	21. Questions and Answers

It was only moments later when the radio blared, and Rush and Belle were called to meet the returning team in the briefing room. The actual meeting took no time. Young, having presumably been briefed by TJ and Greer, told them that her identity had more or less been confirmed, or as closely as they could. Then he asked Rush to join him in his quarters in what was clearly and attempt to leave Belle alone for the purposes of bringing her up to date on the condition of her family. There were other things as well, generally testing her knowledge of Storybrooke. Not that anyone really believed she was lying anymore, or at least the two he had sent didn't. Regardless he seemed to feel it should be private.

For his part, Rush and Rumplestiltskin tried to pay attention to what Young was saying or rather he was paying as much attention as he ever did to the man, which admittedly wasn't much. Most of both men was busy worrying about Belle and wanting to run to her and give her comfort after whatever it was that they had found. Of course there was no reason that anyone knew of for Rush to be there, so he was stuck with the useless lump that was Colonel Young, pretending a patience that he didn't have and ignoring the worry that was building up inside of their shared mind.

 

"Belle, about you husband," TJ said as carefully as she could. They were alone in the conference room, Belle sitting anxiously in one of the chairs, while Greer stood leaning against the wall, making his discomfort pretty obvious.

"Did you find Richard? Is he all right? Did you tell him I was safe? What happened to me?" All the questions came tumbling out together. She pretended not to notice the look that passed between the two soldiers.

"We found your husband, yes..." TJ started.

"And, what did he say? Is he..." Belle started again, but Tamara held up a hand for her to stop. Inside she was breathing a sigh of relief. At least Rumple's body was alive, and presumably at home. From the way they were approaching the subject, or failing to approach it, she was fairly certain that he was right, and his body was home without him in it. She supposed it could have been worse, Rush could be back in Storybrooke.

"He didn't say anything, Belle. Richard Gold is in a coma." Belle hid her face in her hands, trying to pretend more worry than she felt. If anything it was relief she felt. Rumple's body at least meant the potential to get back. Knowing that his body was safe to her meant that it was a matter of getting him back into it. Once he was back in his own body, he would find a way to get her back. She knew that.

"Are you all right?" TJ said, getting up and coming to lean over her.

Probably making certain I'm not going to swoon, Belle thought. But she had never been a swooner, not even when she had actually cause. She'd certainly not feign it now. "I'm...I'm fine, except for worrying about Richard. Did anyone know what had happened? Did you see Neal, and Emma? How is my father, and Henry?"

"Okay, one thing at a time," TJ said standing up.

"No one saw anything," Greer said, contributing what he could. "Sheriff said there was a report of a flash of light in those woods. Sorry, Miss Belle. I went out to the scene, see if I could find anything that the Sheriff didn't. The Mayor...Milton, something like that, she drove me out."

"Mills, Regina Mills," Belle corrected him completely unconsciously before noticing TJ and Greer sharing a look. So Young had told them to test her, not surprising, and not that it mattered anyway. "Why Regina?" she asked, hoping to get some insight into what had happened while they were in town.

"Because Sheriff Swan was taking me to the hospital to check on your husband."

"Yes, what did they say? It was Whale, I assume, taking care of him?"

"Yes, Dr. Whale, weird name."

"Weird man, about six feet tall, blue eyes, arrogant, makes a pass at anything even vaguely female? That's him. I hope he didn't give you too much trouble."

"No, he was very professional during the exam. The Sheriff kept a firm leash on him afterward," TJ said. "She said something about you and Gold and he backed off right away."

"Yes, that's about right, he's afraid of Richard," she told the two of them. "He made a pass at me once. He's harmless, mostly. But can we get back to my husband's condition, now that we have established I know almost everyone in town?"

"There's nothing to tell really," TJ said. "His body is working, everything seems fine, blood work, scans, everything, he's just unconscious."

"At least he's alive and safe," Belle said. "What about my father? How is he?"

"Worried about you. Everyone seems worried about you. I spoke to him and told him you were safe. There was someone else, short guy, Emma had to speak to him..."

"Probably Leroy, he's sweet, but short tempered. Emma and Neal, they are okay, and Henry? What about Ruby?"

"Everyone is fine. We met Henry and Ruby, had lunch at a place called Granny's. Good food," Greer told her, trying to be helpful. Being comforting wasn't something that he did very well.

"Yes, I hope you had the hamburgers... Richard and I like to go..." She paused. It was getting a little too much, to hear about everyone safe at home, even though Rumple was here with her. "I...I just think I need a little bit, I need to go...I'd like to be alone to..."

"Process? Yeah, we get it. Want me to walk back with you?" TJ asked.

"No, I'll be fine, Rush can take me," she said, rising. They went into the other room, where Young was holding a very one sided conversation with Rush. The instant that he saw her, his attention snapped visibly back and he went straight to her, taking her arm.

"All right?" he asked, concern showing clearly on his face.

"Fine, I just need... can you walk me back to my quarters?" she asked leaning heavily on his arm. He just nodded, paying no mind to the rest and walked her to the door.

"Does anything about that seem a little strange to you?" Colonel Young asked as the door slide closed.

"Does anything about that NOT seem strange?" Greer responded.

"Could be tranferance," TJ said. "She's clinging to him because he reminds her of her husband. And believe me, the resemblance is freaky. It's easier to see, now that Rush has shaved, but yeah, I'm pretty sure they are related. I managed to snag a DNA sample at the hospital to run against Rush, but it's not just the picture."

"Doesn't explain Rush, though" Greer said. "He's been nicer to her than I've ever seen him be to anyone else, ever. Not that Miss Belle isn't a nice woman, but it's a little creepy. Should have seen him with Telford."

"You don't think Rush would try to...use his resemblance to him to..." Young asked.

"Rush?" TJ responded. "I don't believe so."

"Ohay, but TJ, maybe you'ed best stop by her quarters later, just to check on her."

"Yes, sir."

Young made a note to stop and check on her later himself. He told himself it was concern for her, but he knew he was lying to himself. There was just something about her, about the two of them, that he just couldn't put his finger on. But it just wasn't right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and thanks to all of you who are still hanging in, and to Robin4, whose taking the time to beta this. My apologies for taking so very long but life and NaNoWriMo got away from me, but I'm back in this verse. Please, read, comment, leave kudos and all those things that generally make the muse happy and make writing easier.


	22. Tick Tock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The situation gets a little more urgent as suspicions mount and Rush and Rumple start to have some side effects.

 

It took them a few moment, but once they were back in her quarters, they fell into each other's arms in relief. No one was quite certain enough to say anything. Of course, Belle and Rumplestiltskin felt the relief that he had body to get back to. It meant that there was hope, hope for them to be able to return home.

For Rush it was a little more complicated. It would be nice to have his own head back, and no mistake. At the same time, his feelings about Belle were entirely too complicated and the only way for him to actually sort himself, assuming that there was some kind of bleed over, was to be alone in his own head. But once he was himself once again, he knew that Belle would be gone, or soon to be. He prayed, despite his lack of belief, that it was bleed over because he wasn't certain if he could stand the loss, not again. Rumplestiltskin had hinted, but there could be no one, certainly he would know if there were, wouldn't he? Meanwhile there were important things to consider. "At least we know where we stand, or something like it," Rush said.

"I don't necessarily like the idea of Frankenstein watching over my body," Rumplestiltskin said. "He could do anything, but I suppose it could be worse."

"It could, and Emma and Bae will keep a close eye on him. At least you have a body to go back to," Belle reminded him. "As generous as Dr. Rush has been, I don't think we can continue like this indefinitely, and I won't leave without you, even if I could." Belle rested her head on his chest and Rush tried very hard to pretend he wasn't there and enjoying it.

After a while, Rush reminded Rumplestiltskin that they (or rather, he) should check on the program he'd created to weed the magical and mystical symbols from the purely Ancient, hoping that the key to the core systems lay in the double meanings somewhere, especially as Rumplestiltskin was helping, help that he would not necessarily have for long. "I'll bring back some dinner," Rumple promised as he kissed her, for once getting no trouble from the other creature in his head. "No one would think it odd, considering. You have had enough company today, haven't you?" He knew her so well.

"I could do with a break, yes, but do you have to bring dinner?" she asked. The food had made an impression and not a good one. Right now she would get down on her knees for a plate of Granny's lasagna, and she didn't even like lasagna.

"With luck, what we found on the planet is edible. It might even be possible to enjoy it. Becker is quite a respectable cook when he has something to work with that didn't come powdered in a tin." With a final smile they left her alone in her quarters sorting through the laundry that she had liberated from his room as well as her few things.

"Best let me take over," Rush said. The headache wasn't getting any better this time, and they had taken more than the recommended dose of pain killers. Rumple had even wasted a little magic but it only dulled. At least with only one of them awake at a time, it faded a little. The lessening of the pressure was all they could hope for. "Good that they found your body, now we just have to get you back into it," Rush whispered. Neither of them said what they were both thinking...'before the pressure kills both of us'. With a little luck it wouldn't come to that.

 

TJ passed Dr. Rush heading towards his usual place in the console room. He hurried past her looking more distracted that usual. In fact, she thought he might be talking to himself. Deciding that it was none of her business, she made her way toward the quarters that Belle Gold had been calling home.

"Belle," she called after knocking on the bulkhead as best she could. After a moment, the door slide back. "Hey Belle, just thought I would check on you," she told her. Belle waved her in. She had managed to get back the clothes she had been found in, TJ noticed. The skirt and blouse making her look much more like the small town librarian that everyone in Storybrooke had talked about. "What's all this?" she asked, looking down at the small pile of clothes on the floor. There were a couple of pairs of fatigues, one probably the pair she herself had given the woman, a couple of tee shirts, and a thermal undershirt that she was absolutely sure was Dr. Rush's in a heap on the floor.

"Camille explained about the laundry," Belle said with a shrug. "I thought I'd best do it now rather than wait til later."

"Okay but these are most definitely not yours," TJ said, picking up a random piece, a pair of boxer shorts. "Belle I know you're grateful to Rush, but you can't let him take advantage of you like this."

The brunette looked at her with a tight smile. "Dr. Rush is not taking advantage of me. I asked him if I could do it, for very good reason. I am bored to tears with darning socks, but today...I just can't sit still, I need to do something and I haven't enough things of my own to make it worthwhile. I need to keep busy. TJ, I know you are trying, really, and I appreciate it. But you can't help. I need to get through this in whatever way I can. Right now, this is how I am coping, please, let me cope?" she asked.

TJ wasn't certain what to do, honestly. Belle was right, she had to cope in the best way she could. The medic herself would catalog alien plants when she needed something to take her away from...well all of this. If that was what this was, well, who was she to say otherwise? "Sorry, I guess it's just...we want to make sure it's a..."

"You or Colonel Young? Do you trust Rush so very little?" Belle asked, genuinely curious and a little sharp. "I mean, has he ever shown himself to be..." she wasn't exactly sure how to finish that sentence. Certainly from her interaction with the man, he didn't seem the sort to take advantage.

TJ winched. Belle was smart and she had hit two very definite points. The medic wasn't entirely certain that there was anything wrong. Nothing that she had learned about Belle seemed to indicate that she was easily swayed, or that if there was an issue she wouldn't just slap him the way she had done to Young. Added to that was Everett's well know dislike and distrust of Rush. The two men had never gotten along. and that was before they had ended up out on the far edge of...where ever. "It's not that we...that I don't trust Rush particularly. But..."

"But Colonel Young doesn't," Belle said, bluntly. "I know, I understand that you are all dancing over one another to avoid telling me that you don't think that I will get home. My husband is in a coma, and I am stuck out here, and Dr. Rush understands loss. Did it ever occur to you that he is just trying to give me...something?" She turned away. It was all getting to be a bit much, to be honest.

"I'm sorry, Belle. I know this has to have been all..."

"A bit overwhelming?"

"Yeah, that too. I didn't mean to upset you." Tamara sighed. She knew she wasn't the best person for this, but then who? The thing about it was Belle seemed perfectly at ease with Rush. Perhaps that was what struck her as odd. Of course, she knew that Rush had lost is wife and Belle had, to all intents and purposes lost her husband. It wasn't really surprising was it? Not like her. She had fallen for someone who was married, who was in her chain of command and broken just about every rule possible. "Maybe you just remind me of some mistakes I have made myself and I let myself get caught up in Young's feud."

"You and Young?" Belle asked, waving her to take a seat while she pushed the laundry out of the way.

"It's over, and it was a mistake. Is it that obvious?"

"That the two of you had something? Let us say that I recognise some of the symptoms. If you want to talk about it, I'm here and I'm...well, I'm an outsider, sometimes that's the easiest person to talk to."

 

When Rush returned to her quarters, he found Belle and TJ talking and laughing like old friends. He had checked his program, made a few updates, and gotten them food. Becker was actually in his element, having food that required him to cook. The two plates of alien...well, he wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it looked like steak and vegetables, and people seemed to be enjoying it. It smelled good, of course considering what they had been eating, McDonald's would seem like a feast. Greer had pronounced the meat as tasting like a cross between beef and venison, and that was all it had taken for people to dig in as if they were starving. "I'd get down to the mess before it's all gone," he told TJ as soon as he got over the shock of seeing her. "It's a bit of a crush down there, and I thought..." he guestured to Belle.

"I'm not feeling much like people right now," Belle said.

TJ nodded in understanding and rose to leave only then taking a good look at Rush. He was looking a bit more ragged than usual and as she watched, a small trickle of blood appeared from his nose. "Dr. Rush, are you okay?" she asked immediately going into medic mode. "You..."

He reached up and brushed at it, leaving a smear across his hand. "Fine, fine, perhaps a little tired," he said trying to brush it off.

"You are not fine, a nose bleed is not fine. Best come down to the infirmary and let me check you out. It could be nothing, but..."

"It is nothing, TJ," he said with a tired look, but he wasn't yelling at her.

"Has this happened before? If it's a first time thing, if could be nothing serious, but..."

"It's not, or at least, I've had nose bleeds before, but not in years, or regularly. Really, its nothing, why don't you go get some real food while there is something to be gotten."

"Very well, but if it doesn't stop, or it happens again, I want you in the infirmary. Belle, will you keep an eye on him?" she asked.

"I'll make sure he eats everything and then get's some sleep," she confirmed, giving him a hard look that had been known to send teen agers scurrying. TJ nodded and turned to go.

"Be sure you do."

The minute the door closed behind the medic, Belle was on him. "Rumple...Rush, which ever one of you this is, what is happening?"

"We might have to hurry up our timetable a wee bit," he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry sorry sorry this took so very long. Life has kind of been kicking my arse and the muse for this story seems to have taken an extended vacation in some place much warmer. Please do all those reading, commenting and other muse invoking things. Thank you for reading.


	23. Meal time

"That is not helpful," she said pointedly. "What is happening and why is your nose bleeding? Is it..." He held up a hand for her to stop.

"It seems that the pressure of having both of us in here is starting to catch up. If it had been anyone else, I'm not certain. Belle, I have the memories of three centuries of life and study, ignoring the fake memories of the curse. It is a lot for one human mind, much less two."

"Why didn't you mention this before? Is that why you have had the headaches?" she said, pulling him over to the bed to sit.

"I didn't want you to worry. Rush is apparently subject to headaches in general. Add that he isn't accustomed to magic, and..." he shrugged. "But that is something we can worry about later. It is easier with only one of us conscious at a time, so Dr. Rush is going to try to 'go to sleep' for a while. And you are I are going to enjoy the first thing that has actually looked like food since we came here. After that...well we can worry about the rest later."

"But Rumple, we can't just put this off. Especially if you and Rush are in danger. I suppose there is no way to just...er...send your mind back into your body?"

"No, but I have a bit of an idea about that. I'm just not certain how to go about it. There should be a way to use those stones of theirs to get me back into my body. The problem is getting you back. I can reach my magic here, but I'm not certain that I can channel that much magic through Rush. He's no experience with it and certainly something this big is going to be physically taxing. His body just isn't used to it. And you wouldn't want me killing him, even accidentally, would you?" he asked, settling on the bed with her. He'd resigned himself to the fact that she was going to want to discuss some of this. After all, he couldn't just come in with a nosebleed and expect her to accept that everything was all right. Belle was not that woman, never had been. It was one of the things he loved about her. 

"So what if Rush used them? I mean is it possible you could get home to your body and then bring me home?" she asked. Belle knew he would almost certainly object to the idea. He seemed to trust Dr. Rush more than most, which was only slightly better than none at all, but if it would get her home, she didn't much care. "Please think about it?" she asked, a hand on his arm. That alone was enough to distract him from his automatic 'no'. 

"I will discuss it with Dr. Rush, later. Right now, he needs to sleep to minimize the pressure and you and I need to finish this food. I'm not exactly certain what it is, but it's much better than what we have been eating." Belle knew better than to push. Clearly the two of them had some idea and right now, that was better than none. Instead she turned to her plate, which as he said, much more closely resembled food than anything they'd had so far. 

 

Colonel Young came into the mess and got his food before taking a place at the table with Scott, Chloe, Greer and TJ. 

"Two good meals in one day," Greer was saying to the group at large. He nodded to the Colonel as the man sat, before continuing. "Gonna' spoil me. Won't be able to go back to that powdered stuff. I'll say this for the trip, food was good." Clearly he had been telling them about the trip to Storybrooke. Not that Young was particularly surprised. 

"What was Rush's alien clone like?" Eli asked, his fork of something that looked sort of like mashed potatoes, if potatoes came in bright red, half way to his mouth. 

"I didn't see the man myself, have to ask TJ about that, but his house, now that was a place with some class. Big sucker, old, like 100 years or more, painted pink, which seemed kind of weird but Neal, his son, said that he never got around to painting it, and then Belle didn't mind the colour." 

"I can't tell you much," TJ said. "I mean, he was unconscious, so there isn't a lot to say, but yeah, he does look like Rush alright. It was strange though. I guess I've just never lived in a small town but no one seemed to hide anything. The Sheriff came right out and told people why we were there, not that she really needed to."

"What do you mean?" Young asked, about to take a bite of his meat. 

"Well, stands to reason," Scott pointed out. "Small town, no air base, a couple of Air Force officers show up. I mean, seriously it has to be the biggest thing to hit town since...Well, since Belle disappeared." 

"Yeah, that's almost exactly what the kid said, Henry, that's Belle's...step grandson, I guess. Another thing, seems like everyone is related. I mean, the Sheriff, Emma Swan, she's married to Mr. Gold's son, and the mother of the kid. Met Belle's father, he's the florist. Then there was the diner, run by an old woman that everyone seems to call Granny, can't figure out if she is actually related to anyone. It's just all a little..." TJ tried to find the right word to describe the feeling. It was kind of like Destiny actually, everyone seemed to know everyone and be related to everyone some way or other. 

"Claustrophobic?" Greer put in. "Man, I don't know. I tried to talk to that woman, Regina Mills, when she drove me out to see where...whatever it was that happened happened. She was like the rest of them, all questions. Suppose that's not strange, but I grew up in Baltimore, where you don't necessarily even know your neighbours. Seems like they all live in each other's pockets. Pretty town though, and the pie, man, oh, man. I haven't had pie that good since my gramma died."

"What about you, TJ, what did you think?" Young asked. He was still trying to put a finger on what it was that was bothering him but it was still eluding him. 

"Well, the town, yeah, there was this one thing, a guy who seemed a little like he wanted to fight some answers out of us, but the Sheriff talked him down. But yeah, everyone seemed to know everyone. The lasagna was good though. I didn't have the pie, but I will be dreaming about that chocolate cake for a while."

After than the conversation turned away from the visit, and back to food. Young sat back and listened, only mildly interested. He was thinking about what they had said. Nothing seemed unusual, or at least he supposed it didn't. Scott was the only small town boy among them and he hadn't said anything. Still, Young couldn't shake the gut feeling that something was wrong. But now wasn't the time to ask for more details. Still, something was bothering him, and he couldn't quite put a finger on it, instead he just kept poking it, like a bad tooth. Probably not the wisest idea, in fact, it could almost be argued that he was getting down right paranoid, but he had learned long ago to listen to his gut. Still, rather than do anything about it now, he decided to focus on his meal. He could visit Mrs. Gold when he finished, maybe get some more answers out of her this time, with or without Rush's cooperation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is just a little more. Thanks to my beta, BardicRaven who has been filling in while my regular beta was out of pocket. Hope you all read, comment, and all those other things that keep the muse happy.. 
> 
> Also, if you want a little actual Rush/Belle, I just posted the third part of my one shot series, Falling, called Coming Clean.


	24. Ooops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Young makes an assumption and a big mistake, and the situation gets...complicated.

The two of them lay sprawled together on Belle's bed, their empty plates put aside, curled up together. His nose had ceased bleeding, Rush was asleep, and they were enjoying just being together. "When we get home, I want a week at the cabin," Belle said. "After we see everyone and assure them we are fine. I just...everyone has been very nice, but I feel like a zoo animal. Besides, I want some time with my husband."

Rumplestiltskin grinned lazily. "I thought we did pretty well last night," he drawled suggestively, running his hand down her arm.

"We did," she agreed, blushing. "But that is not what I meant. I want to be able to hold your hand in public, to kiss you without worrying about whose lips I'm kissing or whos's going to see me doing it. There are so many things...I miss tea and our bed, the library, and the shop. I want lazy Sundays in the kitchen and our regular hamburger date at Granny's"

"Yes, even her much lauded lasagna would seem a feast, though Becker did a commendable job. Of course, he now has some actual food to cook."

"Yes, just needs dessert," she said. "One of Granny's pies..." Belle said wistfully.

"That would be nice. I gather that he had an idea about one of the things we think is a fruit, but he's got nothing for flour."

"Yes, it would be lovely."

"What is lovely," Rumplestiltskin said as he reached for her, "is you. And I have you all to myself in this room, for now. Nothing and no one to disturb us." He pulled her close and kissed her deeply. "This is the only dessert I need," he whispered as he rolled over on top of her.

"Aren't we supposed to be discussing how to get home," she chided gently, but made no move to get away. The day had been harder on her than she was willing to admit, but he knew her so very well.

"Later." He kissed her again. "I have at least part of a plan." kiss "It will require those stones of theirs." kiss. "Regina." kiss. " And probably Jefferson and his hat." kiss.

"Colonel Young?" Eli called his name cautiously as they left the mess. Young had finished his dinner and was contemplating either going to speak to Mrs. Gold, or returning to write up a report that he'd been putting off. Any interruption was a good one.

"Eli, come on," he said, waving him to follow him to his office. Any interruption was a good one. He waved the young man into his office.

"Listen Colonel, I've been thinking about what you said earlier. Not that I think Rush would do anything or is doing anything or...but..."

"Spit it out, Eli."

"Well, I was going over the kino footage, you know I put them on search mode when I'm going to bed, right? Just to kind of get random stuff around the ship. I was...well, there was some footage of that corridor that Rush and Belle have their quarters on and it showed Rush kind of leaving her quarters really late. I checked the time stamp and it was when he was off radio, I thought he was sleeping. It's probably nothing, I mean they could just have been talking or whatever..." he cut off lamely. Suddenly he was regretting his decision to tell the Colonel. This wasn't going to end well, he knew that. He also knew that he was going to get dragged into it. He could see that Young was thinking about it and he didn't think the man bought the 'just talking' idea. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Well, first I'm going to talk to Mrs. Gold, see what she says. But she is in a fragile state. Don't worry, Eli, I'll be as respectful as I can." Eli wasn't so sure about that. Young had been a little weird about the whole thing.

"And then?"

"And then I'll tell Rush to stay away from her, order him if necessary. The last thing she needs is him hanging around..."

Eli shook his head. This was going to be a disaster, he just knew it. No two ways about it, and he was pretty sure that Rush was going to blame him, probably Belle too. Part of him wanted to be there, to see exactly how the cranky scientist took it. Rush didn't like taking orders. The other part of him wanted to be very far away.

Young made his way down the corridor of the ship towards the quarters Mrs. Gold had taken. He'd tried to raise Rush on the radio, but the man wasn't answering. Typical. A part of him, the rational part, was telling himself he was being unreasonable. This was not a by the books situation, none of it was, and he was aware that more than a few of the crew had paired up since they have been out here, something that would very definitely be against the regs if they were back at the SGC. Still the whole situation, the way Rush had been acting, not to mention the presence of a strange librarian from nowhere Maine was giving him an ulcer. He had always trusted his instincts and his instincts said something was wrong. It was going to stop, now. He was going to get his answers.

Rumplestiltskin pulled himself upright from his rather boneless position on the bed. Belle was lounging comfortably on the pillows against the head of the bed, smiling drowsily at him. "Can't you stay a little longer?" she asked as he tried to find the shirt he had been wearing where it had fallen into the small pile of laundry.

"I will stay until you sleep, love, but then I have to give Rush some time. It's only fair. But I thought it best to get dressed. It's also not fair for him to...er..." He didn't have quite a good way to tell her about who had woken up with her this morning, or the state of undress that they had both been in. It was just better that they forgo their perferred state of undress for sleeping until they were back in their own home.

"Ohhh," she said, suddenly catching on. She blushed from head to toe, a sight that would have distracted him at any time and he paused to admire her beauty when someone pounded on the bulkhead.

They both jumped, distracted. Rumple reached down and through her clothes to her, wondering who the hell was at the door and what he was going to do to them. None of the pictures in his mind were pleasant. Belle pulled her clothes to her and began to redress. "Maybe they will go away if we don't answer?" she whispered.

"Maybe, or maybe they will just open the door. Should have locked the bloody thing, it's the shop all over again. Why do people insist on knocking?" he grumbled as he pulled the tee shirt over his head, ignoring the thermal shirt that Rush usually wore beneath it.

"At least this time we were finished?" she said cheekily. "It's probably just TJ coming to check on you, that nose bleed worried her earlier."

The pounding came again and this time it was accompanied by a voice. "Mrs. Gold? I need to speak to you. TJ said you were staying in tonight." Colonel Young's voice, and the last person either one of them wanted to see right now.

"Colonel," she said, raising her voice to be heard. "I'm really not feeling up to..."

"Is Rush in there with you?"

"Damn," Rumplestiltskin cursed. This was really the last thing they needed right now. Belle finished dressing and rose to answer the door, after all, it was really none of his business. But he sat back on the side of the bed, gathering their dishes together as if he was just taking them back to the mess. That and praying that the room didn't, in fact, reek of sex.

"Colonel, what do you want?" Belle said as she opened the door. "I really don't feel like company tonight, I'm fine, as you can see, it's just all been a bit overwhelming." she said politely, though the look she gave him was far from friendly.

"And Rush?" he asked, looking pointedly at the man now standing beside the bed holding their plates.

"I brought her dinner," he said. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Everything on this ship is my business, especially when it comes to unethical behavior." he glared at the man as he moved past Belle into the room. "It's come to my attention that you have been spending far too much time with Mrs. Gold here," he said, pointing to Belle. "And I am concerned. Especially considering the...resemblance to her husband."

"We aren't about to start that again, are we? I've been helping her out, yes. I'm interested in finding out how she got here, yes. But..." He started to say more but Belle herself, interrupted him.

"Colonel, I appreciate your concern, but really, who I spend my time with on this ship is frankly none of your business. Dr. Rush reminds me of my husband and I find his presence soothing, especially right now after the rather distressing news from home. But beyond that, it is not your concern. I am not a member of your crew, I am not under your command, and I will thank you to stay out of things that have no bearing on you."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Mrs. Gold. I'm going to ask that Dr. Rush here stays away from you, out of your quarters, at least for a while. It's for your own good, you understand. TJ said that you may be experiencing transference and..." He reached out and put a hand on her arm, though whether it was meant to soothe or intimidate, it mattered not at all.

A voice, familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, growled from behind him. "I'll thank you to take your hand away from my wife, if you'd like to keep it." The voice was cold and threatening and Young turned, not entirely certain he wanted to see.

"Dr. Rush?" Young said, his voice shaking just a tiny bit.

"Not even a little bit, Dearie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay it's a cliffhanger and I am only sort of sorry, not. Please enjoy, read, and comment, things are getting a wee bit more complex here.


	25. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush and Rumplestiltskin try to deal with Young

 

 

 

 

 

And there it was, the thing that had been keeping his guts in a knot. Being right didn't actually make Young feel any better though, certainly not when the man rounded on him. There was something in those eyes that caused him to shiver. Part of him wondered briefly if it was just that Rush had finally gone insane, but no, those weren't his eyes. "I knew it, though how you knew all that stuff, about Maine, about the missing woman...who is she, then? Who or what are you?" he asked, reaching for his sidearm only to realise he didn't have it.

"What _are_ you wittering on about, man?" Rumplestiltskin asked, looking at him out of Rush's eyes, and reaching for Belle to pull her behind him. He had more or less regained control over himself, and realised this was going to make things even more difficult. Fortunately he'd always been good on his feet. _Really? And what did you call that, subtlety? I think not,_ Rush said sarcastically from where he was now completely awake accompanied by the expected pain. ' _Best thing now is to let him think you are Gold, explanations later.'_

"What kind of alien are you, are both of you? What's your mission?" Young asked.

"What is it with you lot and aliens? I'm no alien."

"Then who are what are you and where is Doctor Rush?" the colonel asked.

"Oh, he's still in here, have no fear of that. It's actually a bit crowded to tell the truth. But I am Richard Gold, and I am very much Belle's husband. So, while I am forced by circumstances to trust Dr. Rush with her, I'll thank you to keep your hands to yourself." The threat was still there, but the man had at least calmed some.

"So the reason that Richard Gold is lying in a coma in a hospital in Maine is because his consciousness has been hiding here, in your body?" Young asked. He wanted to deny it, really he did, but honestly, what other explanation was there? TJ had run the tests on Belle, and she was definitely Earth human, with a home and family that all checked out. Considering the things he had seen and done, the stones that allowed consciousness swapping across galaxies, stargates, everything else...It really wasn't all that much stranger than anything else they did.

"Something like that," he said. _Best let me take this,_ Rush whispered. _I at least speak the right language and I've been dealing with Young for a long time. The less we can get away with explaining the better._

"You expect me to buy this?" Young said running one hand through his hair.

"I don't see that you have much choice do you?" Rumplestiltskin said sarcastically. _This is necessary,_ Rush said in the back of his head. _It was going to happen sooner or later. We can't keep this up, not without more danger and while I don't understand all of your plan, we still need him to carry off part of it._ Or I could turn him into something, the imp retorted.

"Colonel Young," said Belle, speaking up for the first time. She stepped forward, giving a look to Rush...er...Gold, whoever it was. Certainly he responded to her look, calming perceptibly. "I know my husband, and I can assure you that it is him in there."

"How..." he started to ask but stopped at her look.

"You are married, are you not, Colonel?" she asked, looking down at his wedding band.

He nodded. There were things that only a husband and wife would know, things that even if he thought Rush was trying to play her, and as much as he disliked and distrusted the man, he didn't actually think he was like that, he wouldn't be able to fake. Especially when, from what TJ and Greer had said, they had been together for quite a while, even if they had not married until relatively recently.

 _Best let me take over, handle the technical side. His knowledge is limited, and I can explain without bringing magic into it,_ Rush said, trying again to get the imp to relinquish control. Already the pain was getting worse.

"I'm having trouble believing all this," Young said. The man who was and wasn't Nicholas Rush looked at him out of Rush's eyes. He was no longer actively threatening him. Nothing else made any better sense but there was something... dark, something about the person that Belle Gold claimed as her husband, that spoke of something other than a small town businessman.

"Doctor Rush tells me...I'll do that bit, thanks." The change was almost palpable. Young wasn't certain how, but he knew that he was once again talking to Doctor Nicholas Rush. It was the same voice, the same accent, but there was a difference, even though he couldn't have put a finger on exactly what. "TJ can run a scan, it should be able to detect the difference in neural activity patterns between us," he told the still very confused commanding officer.

"So why all the hiding, why haven't you done it already?" he growled at the scientist. Dealing with Rush, that was something he knew how to do...well, not really, but he at least knew what to expect. "If it's so fucking simple, why am I just learning about it?"

"There are a couple of reasons. At first, I wasn't certain what was happening and he understands even less. Secondly, neither of us relished the idea of being guinea pigs, especially since we haven't got a clue how it happened. He remembers an explosion, and that's all."

"It's more than I remember," Belle said. "But you can see why I don't want to be separated from him...er...them?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Young said. He still wasn't sure he bought it, but it was the simplest solution, which for around here was a first. "So what was the plan here? Wait for their memories to come back? How long did you think you could keep it up? Actually, why are you even explaining it to me now?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, I'll admit that you threatening to separate the two of them precipitated the decision. But we'd have had to tell you sooner rather than later," Rush said, as he realised that his nose was bleeding again. "It seems that having both of us in here is killing me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm back with this, having taken a bit of a break to finish the very long series one story I had been working on (Enemies and Friends). If you are still reading this, thank you, and please let me know what you think, since comments are love.


	26. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The commander tries to figure out the situation and Rumplestiltskin sets his plan in motion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"What?" Belle cried out in alarm. Of course he could still be playing with Young, but still...

"Belle." He reached for her. "Shhhh....Doctor Rush has a plan, it's going to be all right," he whispered, enfolding her in his arms.

Watching what was now clearly two different people juggling for control and trying to figure out what Rush was thinking was starting to give Young a headache. He cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the scene in front of him. "We should get you down to the infirmary, let Lt. Johanson run those scans."

"Yes, probably.  Colonel, can you give us a moment?" Rush asked. His nose had stopped bleeding,but the pain was almost enough to make him sick. But they needed a moment to talk. While he understood the technical aspect of the plan, the rest was beyond him. Plus there was something else the other man wasn't telling him, and it made him nervous.

"I'll be right outside," Young said.

"Don't trust me?" Rush said with a sneer.

"Not even a little, but that's beside the point. Whatever I think, I need you alive. So hurry up. I'm certain you have some idea of how to fix this?"

"One or two, yes."

The colonel nodded and stepped out the door, keying his radio. "TJ, I need you, Lieutenant Scott and Sergeant Greer in the infirmary."

"Yes, sir," Scott acknowledged.

"What's the problem?" TJ asked.

"You are not going to to believe this...."

 

"Rumple, what..."

"Belle, listen to me, all right sweetheart? I thought we had a little more time but, I'm afraid we are running out of it, and faster than I expected. I need Rush to use their stones to go through to Storybrooke, into my body. It's the only way I can get both of us back home," he said urgently.

"But why? And how..."

"Shhh, listen, we don't have much time. Rush's body is unaccustomed to magic and this is going to require a lot of magic. But with him in my body, Regina can help talk him through his part of the plan."

"But what is the plan, and how are you going to get me home? Not to mention how can we do it without causing more problems with these military people. They will come for us if they know what you can do, unless we..."

"I have a way, love. I will tell you all about it, I promise. I'll need Jefferson, and Regina of course, possibly Emma, but I will be able to get you back."

"Jefferson? But who will..." she started to ask. She knew the rules of the hat. The same number that came through had to return. Not that she didn't think any number of the people here would volunteer, especially the ones that hadn't been intended to come in the first place, but who would volunteer on Earth to get trapped here?

"I need to discuss that with Rush," her husband told her. "But for now, we had best not keep the colonel waiting."

Indeed, Young was right outside the door, waiting for them. Belle was holding the hand of...well, at the moment, he couldn't tell which and the whole thing was freaky, he was sure of that. The colonel should know, he'd seen plenty of freaky since he'd joined the SGC. "Ready?" he asked.

"As I'm like to get," the man he'd been told was Richard Gold answered him. Now that he knew what to look for, he could...well, not exactly tell, but there was a definite difference in the way he held himself, and the way he moved. He'd seen it before, in people who used the stones. Though since the two men looked so much alike there probably wasn't much, though he remembered that Gold walked with a cane. Overall though, there was probably less difference than there was between, say Telford and himself. It was in the eyes, certainly, the expression. Though part of him wondered at the intensity, for lack of a better word, very different from Rush's, the expressions. Gold seemed more prepared for a fight than Rush, and he could see it, reviewing every interaction he'd had with Rush since Belle had come aboard. It was the differences that were probably what had been making him uncomfortable.

They walked in silence to the infirmary, where TJ, Scott, and Greer waited. "A security detail, really?" Rush said with a curl of his lip. "I doubt either of us is a threat."

"What's up, Colonel?" Scott asked in confusion.

"TJ, I need you to run a neural scan on...Dr. Rush?" The man nodded. "It seems..."

"When whatever happened that brought Belle here, she wasn't alone," Rush interrupted him. "And Eli, you might as well come down, might need you," he addressed the kino trying to hover inconspicuously near the ceiling. "Now, if we could get on with this."

"What came through with her, and how..." Scott asked, looking at the scientist.

The change in his face was visible almost shocking. "I did," the voice that was and was not Rush answered, never letting go of Belle's hand.

It was Tamara who picked it up the quickest, but she had spent more time with Belle. "Richard Gold, I presume?" she asked.

"Gold star, dearie," he replied with a slight bow that was completely alien to the body he was in.

Eli came in at that moment and stopped suddenly in shock. "Whoa, so is this like complete transference? Kind of like 'Return to Tomorrow', only with both..." he paused at the blank looks. "Star Trek, classic series? Anyone?"

"Enough, Eli," Young said.

"I don't know but..."

"What is this doing to you?" TJ asked. "This is what caused the nose bleed, isn't it? Rush...Gold, whoever you are, come over here and let me get a look at you, and take a scan..." She took over, all medic.

Rush laid down carefully, Belle still beside him, holding his hand. It was comforting regardless of who she was doing it for. _'You can fix the readings if something...'_ he asked the other resident. ' _I should be able to handle it.'_

"Okay, how does this work?" TJ asked, attaching him to some instruments, and using her penlight. He closed his eyes with a hiss. "Your blood pressure is up, as is heart rate, and pretty much everything else. Your neural activity is off the scale. I'm not sure how you've managed not to have a stroke," she chided him.

"One of us awake and in control at a time," Rush said, his voice tight.

"So, you are taking turns? Okay." TJ thought for a moment. "I'm not exactly sure what to do here," she said turning to Young. "I can give him something for the side effects, but it won't solve the problem."

"Is there a way of telling who or what is sharing his mind with him?" he asked.

"It's my husband, I told you," Belle growled low, from where she was beside him stroking his hand, and wasn't that an unusual sight for everyone.

"I just need to confirm it," Young said. He didn't want her upset with him, but he was just doing his job.

"I've scanned Rush before, maybe..." she thought out loud. "Dr. Rush, you said you've been keeping the pressure down with only one of you active at a time. Can you do that deliberately for me?" she asked, her voice soft in deference to what had to be a raging headache.

"Try..." he whispered. The readout slowed as TJ watched and nodded before hurrying around the room, making both Greer and Scott get out of her way as she did things that no one particularly understood.

"Okay, Rush, can you..." she wasn't exactly certain what to call it. This was definitely not something in the manual. "I need to speak to Mr. Gold."

Beside them, the readings went haywire again, but slowly they settled into a pattern which TJ looked at. She shook her head.

"Well?" Young asked sharply, earning him a dirty look from both the medic and Belle.

"This," she said quietly, shoving her pad under his nose. "This is Rush's normal brain activity. I compared it," she changed the display and put them side by side, "to one I took the last time he hit his head when that console exploded, also the last time I got a full medical on him. See, no major differences, or nothing that can't be accounted for by stress. Now, this," she said, pulling up another readout.

"I don't know what I'm looking at, just give me the reader's digest version. Is he or is he not an alien?"

"No, they are both within human parameters, a little more active than they should be, than most people are actually. But Rush is usually that way."

"Rush is actually human, who knew?" Greer whispered quietly to Scott, who tried not to grin.

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know, but he is right, if they keep going much longer, we are potentially going to lose both of them."

"I've an idea 'bout that," Rush said, sitting up carefully, with a little help from Belle. "It'll take a couple of days to arrange though."

 

The next two days were something of a roller coaster. As much as Young was inclined to confine both of them to quarters (and in TJ's opinion, to bed), the ship needed Rush. The commanding officer had gone straight to the communications stones when they were done, to make his report and start getting the details hashed out on that end.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant James earned herself some earthside time, so that one of the neurologists who was studying how the use of the communications stones affected neurology, came to take a look at him. Dr. Freedman had taken a look at him and the readings, shaken her head, and agreed to their plan, saying she would be their liaison on the other end. Then it was just the waiting while the details got worked out.

The only positive side was for Belle. No one questioned her right or need to stay by his side, in fact, TJ insisted.

"You know they need to keep themselves separate as much as possible, and you of all of us, you will notice the bleedover, or if he...er...they are overdoing it, or if his control slips." She'd also given her a pressure syringe full of a fast acting sedative. "Just in case," TJ told her. "It's not a good solution, but it's all I can do. I want him in the infirmary once a day as well. I'm working on something to at least keep his blood pressure down. I'm no good at keeping Rush calm though, no one is. But you've got more chance than anyone else."

No one really spoke about it, but Belle could see the looks as she passed. They were all thinking the same thing. "Poor Belle, if this works, her husband will be alive, but she will be trapped on the far side of the universe with the rest of us."

Only Eli saw the upside and insisted on explaining it to them, always one to look at the situation as if it were a science fiction novel. "Look, now that Gold is read in on the Stargate program, you can at least visit? It'll be great for Rush, he gets to visit Earth in a body that's almost his. I kind of wish I had a doppleganger for that." Several people around the table had nodded in agreement.

Of course, Belle was aware of the talk, but she ignored it. She preferred to put her faith in Rumplestiltskin and Nicholas Rush.

 

"For this to work, Rush, you need to make a choice," Rumplestiltskin whispered to him. They had discovered at some point that communicating together when neither of them was interacting with the outside world was much easier and less painful.

Rush, who had been seeing parts of Rumplestiltskin's plan, could almost put the pieces together, but not completely. "How is that?" he asked.

"Someone has to replace Belle here, so that she can return. The question is, who do you want?" the imp asked, having his own ideas on the subject.

"How will that work with..." he started.

"Leave the magic to me, dearie, well and Regina, who will have to sort the potion side of it for me."

"Saying you can do that, I suppose there are several scientists who would love the chance..."

But Rumple could see him shutting the door. He knew about the bleedover in their emotions, he could feel the loss and the resignation, hell, he understood it, probably better than anyone else. He also understood that Rush was as big a fool as he had been once. "There is a choice and you know it. I cannot give you your wife back, no one can. Magic cannot return the dead to life. But I can also see the future, well, somewhat. I can give you a chance at something else. Someone who shares your work and your passion, and can help you find what you seek. Someone who will love you, if you let her..."

"Mandi," he thought. Young, brilliant, driven, she'd been there for him when Gloria died and after. He'd been attracted to her mind, but there had been a stumbling block that he'd never even been able to bring up to himself, perferring to think that he wasn't ready and that she didn't see him that way. "But she's..."

"Leave that part to me as well. I owe you, and never let it be said that Rumplestiltskin owed a debt he didn't pay. Now, here is what we need to do..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, thanks to all of you reading. Here you get a hint of the plan, and maybe how they are going to pull it off, while keeping the world of Magic and Technology firmly separate. Enjoy, read, comment... like that. For those who don't like a certain character, if I can't leave him Belle, I have to leave him someone.


	27. A Scientist in Storybrooke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush visits Storybrooke.

 

 

Dr. Nicholas Rush was somewhere, and it most certainly was not Destiny. He had used the stones dozens of time, but this was definitely different. For starters, the headache he had been fighting with for the last several days was gone, replaced by a tingling awareness that the imp had told him was magic. It seemed to be a part of his very deepest structure, along with senses that seemed more acute than ever. For the first time in a week, he was also alone in his, no Rumplestiltskin's, head. He could hear the steady beep of the monitors, and smell...disinfectant covering something else, dust and a smell that seemed to him to indicate that whereever he was, it had been unused in some time.

"Papa, Papa, are you there?" he heard a voice that he knew from their shared memories belonged to his, or rather Gold's, son, Bae, Baelfire.

"Sir..." That voice was familiar, Major Peterson, SGC liaison, the man responsible for reading in family members and supervising visitations and someone that they needed to get rid of, the sooner the better.

"Come on, Gold," That voice would be Emma, Emma Swan, Sheriff, Bae's wife, and mother of Henry. And if his recent unwelcome roommate was to be believed, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.

He opened his eyes carefully. The room was overbright to his eyes, even though it probably wasn't as bright as it felt. Rush knew his eyes would adjust pretty fast. At least they had taken the tubes and what not off him.

"Papa?" Bae came to his side, instantly.

"I'm afraid not. I'm Doctor Nicholas Rush. Sorry, lad" There was fear and uncertainty on the face of the young man as the Doctor tried to sit up.

"Well, it's one of you, at least." The voice was also unfamiliar but he could take a guess. "It is only one of you, correct?" the woman in the lab coat with the New York accent asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, just me."

"Everything feel all right? No difficulties?" she asked, as she looked in his eyes, and then at a monitor that he couldn't see.

"No, nothing. Don't suppose I could get a coffee and a fag?"

"Definitely not my Pop," the young man said. He looked like he wanted some answers, soon.

"We'll know what's happened on the other side soon," she said. Sitting in the chair on the other side of a table drawn up to the far side of the bed, was a young man Rush didn't know, beside the familiar communication equipment that had been brought to Storybrooke.

"Dr. Rush, all good?" Riley asked out of the unfamiliar body. "I just need confirmation before I..."

Rush nodded. He knew all of this, the safeguards. Riley had swapped with the neurologist's assistant in order to reassure that things were working on both sides.

"''s good, Riley, best get back."

The young man nodded before moving the blue stone from the plate and shifting. A moment later, his eyes reopened. "Only one neural signature on the other side, Dr. Freedman," the young man addressed the doctor.

"What exactly does that..." Emma Swan asked angrily.

"Emma?" Rush asked, carefully. "Just a moment, and I'll explain. Major Peterson, Doctor Freedman, can you give us the room for a moment?" he asked with an almost smile. Rush could be charming when he actually bothered. The doctor and her assistant left, followed by the Major. The man didn't look completely happy, but that surprised no one.

"Bae, Emma. There is a plan, your father has a plan to get everyone back where they belong, but for now, I need to get rid of this lot. Please, just go along for now."

"You are not Gold," Emma said definitely.

"To quote your father in law, 'not even a little bit, dearie'."

"Now that's Gold," she said. She had one hand on Bae's arm, probably the only thing keeping him calm. "He has a plan?"

"He does," Rush confirmed.

"Of course he does, when has papa not? Probably has several, and a few for back up. Just tell me, are he and Belle all right?"

"Perfectly, and a damn sight better now that we aren't both trying to occupy the same mind. Especially now that I am gone. They are probably busy doing things with my body I'd rather not think about too closely." They all laughed just a little.

"Now that is definitely them. So what's next?" Bae asked.

"Well, first things," he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and, before either of them could react, stood. Or he tried to stand at any rate. Bae caught him before he fell as the pain lanced through him like his leg was full of broken glass.

"Easy there," the young man said, setting him back on the bed. He reached out and grabbed a gold headed cane that had been put in easy reach. "You'll need this."

Rush had been vaguely aware of a bit of discomfort and he had known about Gold's leg. The man had warned him, but as distracted as he'd been by all the rest he'd been unprepared for the pain. It would take some getting used to, just like the tingling of magic, it was part of the body he was now using. At least it was closer to his own that the last several, almost identical in fact. "Don't suppose there's anything for the pain?" he asked when he could breath properly again.

"Afraid not, Papa's not a fan. He can heal it for a time with magic but..."

"I'd rather not even try, I'm bound to do something wrong." Rush said, immediately discarding the idea. Maybe later, when or rather if, he got a handle on it.

"Besides, painkillers don't go well with magic," Emma told him. "Something to do with fogging the mind being a bad plan."

Rush merely nodded and looked down at himself, clad as he was in silk pajamas in a dark shade of blue. "How about some clothes then? An' we'd best have Peterson back in."

Emma pointed to a suit that had been hung from a hook that probably cost more than his wardrobe, while Bae handed him a bag. Inside, he found socks, boxers (silk of course, the man did love his silk) and an undershirt, along with his, well, Gold's, shaver and other necessities. "It'll do," he said. "Try to look sad or at least resigned. As far as they know, you've been told you'll not see Belle again. Or not except like this. Send in the Major, best get started." He stood again, carefully, as they let themselves out. Rush tried to get used to walking in this new body.

"Dr. Rush," Major Peterson said as he came back into the room. "I would have thought..."

"Close the door, " the doctor told him. When the door was shut, he turned carefully. "I'll be staying here for a couple of days, consulting with some collegues. Don't worry, it's all been arranged, they will be coming here due to Gold's...disability and the potential weakness of his body."

"But I thought..."

"Major Peterson, we had planned for this possibility. The fact is, we have no way of knowing exactly what happened. Neither of them has a clear memory, and we have no way of getting Mrs. Gold back to her husband, at least not permanently at this point. You've seen the pictures?" Rush asked.

The Major nodded.

"Then you understand. The best we can do is give them some time, while letting me try to figure out what happened. It's the only thing we can offer them." He looked at the Major and the man nodded his agreement.

Actually Rush had been surprised it was so easy. He'd been called to Young's quarters yesterday to talk about the plan.

 

"Tell me, Rush, what are the chances that it will be you and not Gold that goes through?" the Colonel asked, leaning back in his chair.

"If I had to guess, probably even odds, though since I really don't know how it works, it'd be a guess. We're going to try with one of us essentially dormant and the other in control. As long as only one of us goes through..." he shrugged.

"Mrs. Gold is a nice woman, she doesn't deserve this."

"Well, I agree, but without knowing..."

"Listen Rush, what I'm trying to say is this, you could use some time to figure it out, right? And I know that you've wanted to consult with some colleagues on those power usage numbers. If you are the one that goes through, unless the ship is in imminent danger, why don't you stay on Earth for a few days? They deserve the time."

Rush looked at the colonel, unable to hide his surprise. Of course, he knew that Young had been trying to put his marriage back together when they had ended up here, and it had failed. The man understood.

"I was thinking along the same lines. It'll give him time to help her come to terms with it as well. I don't think Belle quite believes..." he left it.

"Glad we're on the same page for once."

"It had to happen."

 

Now, Rush just had to get Peterson out of his way. "So you see why I'm still here. I'm not leaving town, and Emma and Bae have offered to help out, run interference, since they are read in."

"But what if you need..." he started. He knew Rush liked to do things his own way, and since he was brilliant, they usually let him, but this...

"It's all right. It's only a few days. This is a small town, strangers are unusual. Not to mention there is no base anywhere near here. Best you get back to Washington. I have a cell phone, at least I assume the man has one. If not, I can get one. I've access to computer equipment. I assume the things I asked for were brought?" he asked.

"Of course," the Major said, pointing to a metal case that had the things on the list Rush had asked for. "If you think so..."

"I'm certain, Major. With a little help, I can pass, but you are suspicious."

"All right, but before you go anywhere, Dr. Freedman is going to give you a full work up, General O'Neil's orders."

"Well, let's get on with it, then." Rush growled and turned to start getting dressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who is reading and commenting on this story. The plan is coming together, but of course it won't exactly be easy. Since when has it ever? So the question is, what is Rumplestiltskin doing on Destiny, and how will Rush deal with Storybrooke? Please keep up the lovely comments. They really keep me going.


	28. Things you see...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young interogates Gold. Belle and her husband bond with unforseen consequences.

 

 

 

Once they had finished separating Rush from Rumple, TJ checked him over. Belle had to admit, she felt better once Riley confirmed that Rush was safely in Storybrooke and in the hands of Bae and Emma. Not that she didn't trust that the two men knew what they were doing, but she also knew that there were parts of this that were completely foreign to Rush. He would need them, along with Regina and possibly even the Blue Fairy to accomplish this. Under normal circumstances the Blue Fairy probably wouldn't help them, but Belle was certain the prospect of Rumplestiltskin back in Storybrooke without his True Love, would spur her into cooperation. With a bit of luck, they would be back home soon.

After Rumple had been checked, Young had asked them to join him for lunch. Fortunately for all of them, they were still eating the food from the last planet they had stopped at. It surprised neither of them that he wanted to talk. The colonel had been pleasant, or as pleasant as he could be while trying to conduct an interrogation under the guise of a polite meal. It wasn't as if he had time before. Rush had spent most of the time while they were waiting for preparations to be completed in control, trying to make certain that things were where he wanted them so that he could leave. There was no way Young had wanted to interfere with that. The rest of the time, he had been resting under Belle's watchful gaze. They were joined by Camille Wrey, probably at the colonel's request.

Rumple, like Belle, had stuck to the 'official' story. Since it matched with everything he had been able to find out, there was nothing to say otherwise. Besides, 'Richard' could be terribly convincing, even charming when he wanted to be.

"I'm afraid if you've traded, you've got a bad bargain," he told the colonel. "Unlike Doctor Rush, who is a man of numbers, I am a man of words. Now if you've a contract to review, then I am the right one. But I was rubbish at science at school. As for technology, I've only gotten rid of my old mobile."

"And only because your grandson insisted," Belle teased.

"You'll excuse me, but aren't you...a little young to have a grandson his age? Henry is it? He's what, twelve?" the HR director asked.

Gold's lips twisted in an odd smile. "Afraid my son took after me in some ways I wish that he hadn't. His mother and I were much the same, too young. Of course, we got married, you did back then."

"And now he and his wife are in the same town as his adopted mother? The same town you happen to live in?" she pressed.

"I might have had a little something to do with that. You see, Miss Wrey, when it comes to legal work, there are very few options in Storybrooke. I always thought that some day they might change their minds. When Regina decided she wanted to adopt, it seemed...ideal. Emma and I have not always gotten on, and my son and I had a difficult relationship for some time. I knew that if I chose to adopt him myself, one or both of them would object, not to mention the confusion for Henry. It has been a bit of an adjustment." It wasn't like Rumplestiltskin to be open with people, but then they didn't know that, just as they had no way of knowing that the story was almost completely untrue. Still it would serve their purpose.

"So what about you and Rush?" the colonel asked. Rumple looked at him, questioningly. "Do you have any idea why you are so similar?"

"I have thought about that, and discussed it with him. It's possible we are related, but neither of us would really know. My mum died when I was a baby, and my father was a bit of a dodgy character, left me off at Mum's sisters when I was quite young. I had no contact with his family, and from what Rush has said, his Da was not in contact with any of his other relatives." It was a simple enough explanation.

"Yeah, but the similarities are..." Camille started.

"Disconcerting? You have no idea," he said, bringing an end to the subject.

 

"Are you certain?" Belle asked as they walked down the corridor.

"I am certain. I need desperately to get cleaned up, and it's not as if anyone is expecting me anywhere. I don't understand how he can stand it," he grumbled. "The man takes less care of himself than..."

"Than you did before we met?" Belle suggested with a not particularly innocent look on her face. "Perhaps when he has someone to care about, and to care for him?"

"It certainly worked for me," he said, pulling her close for a kiss now that they were in the deserted corridor near their quarters. They no longer even pretended they weren't sharing quarters. "Now let us find that shower. As I understand it, we are the only ones with quarters in this corridor. Join me. It will make both of us feel better," Rumple whispered low against her ear.

Belle moaned softly. He was absolutely aware of the effect his voice had on her, especially like that. "Come on then," she replied pulling away from him so that they could get out of the corridor. "Before someone comes looking for us. Really, there is very little for them to entertain themselves with here, except..." she blushed.

"Exactly."

 

Eli Wallace came into the mess and slumped down at the first table he came to. He couldn't believe what had just happened, really it was just...

"What's the matter, Eli?" Chloe asked. She'd seen her friend come in. "You look like..."

"Like I've seen something that I never needed to see? Yeah, I'm scarred for life here. There is just not enough alcohol in the world to help."

"What happened?" she asked, sitting down across form him, joined almost immediately by Scott and Greer.

"It was such a simple plan. I'm off shift, things are pretty quiet, so I figured I'd hit the showers."

"And we all appreciate that," Scott teased, but for once Eli didn't rise to the bait.

"So the showers near my quarters were occupied. I figured I'd use the ones down at the other end..."

"The one on the corridor where Rush is?" TJ asked, as she took a seat next to him.

"Yeah, How was I to know? I mean I know that Rush and Belle had quarters down there, but they're the only ones, so I thought it was a safe bet, right?"

By now, Chloe was actually giggling.

"You didn't..." Scott said. He wasn't certain whether to laugh or not. Rush was to Eli kind of what Young was to him, and while it was all well and good to accept intellectually that they do that kind of thing, walking in on them was an entirely different thing. Kind of like parents, he supposed.

"Not like I walked in walked in, but I went into the room well..." He was trying desperately to get the image out of his head, Belle, her head thrown back against the partition making...sounds, the kind that usually came with the kind of dreams that he didn't want to associate Belle with. Then there was Rush...Gold....whatever, it was Rush's body, and it was Rush's head, or rather the back of it that he saw just barely above the partition from where he was doing... Eli started trying to think of anything, counting from one to one hundred in Ancient, his best video game score ever, anything but that.

"Belle and Gold are married, and they've been through a lot. It's not going to get easier, either. It's hardly surprising that they..." TJ started.

"But it's _Rush_ ," Eli said as if that was all the explanation that was needed. Rush was a lot of things but...no, not going down that road, he decided quickly. "I'm traumatised for life."

"I think it's sweet," Chloe told him. "And kind of sad. I mean, it's nice of Rush to...you know, stay on Earth for a while, you know, to let them..."

"I was kind of surprised the colonel authorised it, almost as surprised as I was that Rush agreed," Scott put in.

"Well, we didn't know who was going to go through," TJ said. "It could have just as easily been Gold. Of course, if it had been, I think they would have switched again."

"The only reason Rush agreed is he wants to discuss the power usage numbers with some expert back on Earth," Eli told them. At least that was what Rush had said.

"I just don't get it, I mean Belle is gorgeous, and Rush, I mean Gold is..."

"A short, skinny assed old guy?" Greer offered.

"Yeah, I mean what does she see in him?"

"I can't tell you that, but I can tell you one thing, they are almost identical," TJ told them. "I saw Gold. Except for a couple of identifying marks, they could be twins, or at least brothers. I think there is a year or two difference. Gold has a bad leg, supposedly from a car wreck, that didn't heal right, and there's Rush's tattoo, but..." TJ thought aloud.

"Rush has a tattoo?" Eli said. He was shocked and he wasn't the only one.

"How do you know?" Greer asked curiously.

"I have everyone's medical files. It's all down there, scars, tattoos, piercings, any identifying marks." TJ told them. She was more than glad to get them off the subject of what Eli had seen. She knew it was going to be hard for the two of them, separated as they were going to be. They deserved their privacy. At least she was fairly sure that Eli's story would keep people out of that shower room, probably the whole corridor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for enjoying this story. As usual remember to leave those lovely comments. They keep me writing.


	29. Learning to adapt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush's introduction to Storybrooke.

 

 

 

Major Peterson had left with a certain amount of bad grace. Not that he hadn't agreed that he stuck out, but it just seemed dangerous. However, the Sheriff and her husband reassured him that they would take care of both him and the situation and finally he'd gone off. He took his people and the equipment, though only as far as the nearest active base, in case of emergency.

Now that they were gone, Rush was left alone with the family that was not his. "Where are we, by the way?" he'd asked. His senses were sharper than they had been and it was taking a bit of getting used to. He'd put on the suit, though he balked at the tie until the two of them eyed him uncomfortably. Then he relented but only because they were adamant that his alter ego would never appear in public that way.

"Or at least not without Belle," Emma said with a grimace, before they gathered up the last few things from the room.

"How much do you know about our..." Bae asked.

"I'm not sure what they told you, but your father and I have been, for lack of a better explanation, sharing consciousness. Both of us were in my body. I'm not sure how much I believe, though."

"Believe all of it," Emma advised him. "It'll be easier that way."

"Even the green skin?" Rush asked as he stepped into the corridor. "Where are we?" He looked around. They were in what looked like a disused dungeon. There were doors with numbers on, and a viewing port, like a prison, or possibly a psychiatric facility. The last was somehow terribly appropriate.

"Even that. What this is? Used to be a secret locked ward of the hospital where prisoners of the Evil Queen were kept under the guise of mental patients during the curse. It was the most...inconspicuous place we could find. You'll see soon enough. Keeping a secret here isn't easy, not anymore. Actually, I understand that used to be Belle's cell," Emma told him as they reached the metal door and she opened it.

"She spent twenty-eight years in there? How is this Regina still..."

"Alive?" Bae asked. "It was a near thing, though I wasn't here at the time. Mostly Belle. She objects when Papa turns people into things. Besides, he and Regina have a very complicated relationship." The young man seemed completely blasé about the whole thing, but considered the things that Rush took for granted, including the stones that had put him in his current situation, he was hardly in a place to be surprised.

"You can say that again," Emma snorted. "Your father has a very complicated relationship with most people. But what I want to know is what is this plan of Gold's and why are you here instead of him? I mean, couldn't you just..." She made a flipping gesture.

"That is also complicated, and I only understand it somewhat. Science I understand, but magic is a different matter."

"That takes time, believe me, I know. So you can tell us about it in the car," Emma said as they reached the top of the stairs and came out in what appeared to be a supply closet. Inconspicuous, indeed. "Now, we haven't explained this to everyone, and probably won't have to. Storybrooke is a small town and I'm sure you can understand that it's very insular. That being said, between Henry and Belle, Gold manages to be related in some way to about half the town. We couldn't keep this a secret if we wanted to, but Peterson and the rest will never know that. We'll take care of that stuff. For now, you just nod, smile like you are only barely bothering, and follow us." The Sheriff opened the door into an empty corridor that led to the front entrance.

They actually made it as far as the waiting room before they saw anyone. "Mr. Gold," a fair haired man in a lab coat greeted him. If the man was surprised to see him up and about, he didn't show it. The doctor hadn't been pleased when his patient had been unceremoniously removed from his care, though as director of the hospital, he'd been informed of the Air Force doctors that took over and what they were doing or at least the cover story. Mostly, he was uninclined to ask too closely if he thought magic might be involved, and with Rumplestiltskin involved, that was always a distinct possibility. "It's... amazing," the man said softly. "If you would come with me, and let me examine..."

"Not now, Whale," Emma said. "Bae, why don't..." Her husband nodded, not even needing to be told to go bring the Cadillac around. They had brought what Emma privately called 'Gold's personal land yacht' in deference to his leg, not to mention the fact that neither of their personal vehicles was really suitable for three. Besides, she'd left the squad car with her deputy.

"Sheriff, I really..."

Rush reached for the things he remembered. Gold had managed to play him more or less convincingly, after all. "I think not, dearie," he said with a smile that wasn't. It seemed to have the desired effect. The doctor stepped back, practically clicking his heels together like the German aristocrat that he more or less assumed from his knowledge of Storybrooke, that Whale was.

There were only a few other people in the waiting room, and while all were watching, no one else approached.

"Not bad. Of course the entire town will know you are up and around again in about twenty minutes. Less, if any of the committees are in session. You saw the receptionist?" Rush nodded. "One of Cinderella's stepsisters, before, or so I am told, can't tell which one, and they are two of the worst gossips in town."

"Please tell me you are joking."

"Welcome to Storybrooke," she said with a shrug as the car pulled up in front of them.

 

"How do you think it's going?" Belle asked. "You know, in Storybrooke."

"I would imagine that by this point, he is throughly overwhelmed. Don't worry, love, Rush is resiliant. If he doesn't get distracted by trying to understand how magic works, he will already be starting to put the plan into action. Emma and Regina can handle him, certainly. Besides, it's in his best interest to get this done as soon as he can. His work is here, and if all goes to plan, he will have someone by his side that he can trust and will keep him grounded."

"This Mandi, you never really told me who she is," Belle said.

"She was a student and colleague of his before he ended up here. She's also an expert on the engines, or something," he waved vaguely. He'd always been distrustful of technology. "And if my sight is correct, Miss Perry is Nicholas Rush's True Love."

"That is lovely, everyone deserves to find their love," she said, as they turned the corner and almost ran into Eli, heading the other way. "Hey, Eli," Belle said cheerily.

The young man looked at them and turned bright red, before looking down again. "Uh, hey Belle, Rush...er... Mr. Gold.... I was just..." he pointed in the direction of the console room. "Need to... Colonel needs me to do something," he mumbled before practically fleeing down the corridor.

"That was odd. Eli is usually very friendly."

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "Perhaps he is having trouble accepting me in Rush's body? You said yourself that Rush was something of a mentor to him, certainly that is how the good doctor sees him, I believe." But Rumplestiltskin knew that wasn't it. He knew that look very well, he'd seen it on his daughter in law more than enough. Besides, the lad was hardly quiet. At least he was certain that they would have privacy in their corridor from now on.

 

Nicholas Rush looked out at the back garden. It was probably pretty enough in the right season, not that he'd ever much noticed, or cared about that sort of thing. They had driven him to the large house, stopping only to acquire lunch, coffee, and to get him a pack of cigarettes, though Bae had refused to give him the latter 'til they reached the house.

"You're not lighting up in my Papa's car, he'd kill me," Bae told him.

"Not a smoker than, your father?" he asked.

"He used to smoke the odd pipe," the man said with a shrug. "But that was three hundred years ago, give or take."

That brought Rush up just a little short. He'd been vaguely aware that Rumplestiltskin was unnaturally old, but he'd not connected it with his son. "You don't look a day over two hundred," he said. Like Rumplestiltskin, sarcasm was his native language.

"Hey, my age is even less straightforward than his," Bae responded. Emma was mostly ignoring the conversation in the front seat, texting Snow White to let her know what was happening.

"How so? This is usually the place where one of the young men that works for me will come up with some obscure science fiction reference."

"He'd probably be more useful than I am. It's like this," Bae paused to let a man and a dalmatian cross the road, and return his wave. "Time runs differently in different realms. When I was fourteen, I came through a portal into this world. It was 1896 at the time."

Rush nodded. He wanted to ask a few hundred questions, but that was for later, if there was time. This concept of realms might be akin to parallel dimensions, he supposed. Probably a very interesting study for some theoretical physicist, pity he'd never be able to tell anyone.

"I was there for about a year, then well, something happened. I needed to help some friends who had given me a home. I ended up in Neverland, where time doesn't really seem to pass at all. Every day is pretty much exactly like the next, and no one ages. I'm not sure how long I was there to be honest, but when I got back here, close to a hundred years had passed. But it's not like my Papa, who lived every day of those years, aware of the passing of time. Still makes me a cradle robber, though," he said grinning at Emma in the rearview mirror.

"Not as much as your father," Emma said. "Even with the twenty-eight years of the curse, Belle's still like ten times younger than he is."

That brought them all back to the reason they were all there, and brought with it a sort of silence that lasted until they pulled up to a Victorian monstrosity. Bae turned into the driveway and brought the car to a halt next to it.

"It's pink," Rush said, in shock.

'It's salmon," the two of them said at the same time, then laughed, leading him to assume it was some kind of private joke. Considering the situation, he thought that they could use all the laughter they could find. They had refrained from discussing the plan until they had arrived, waiting until they were inside the house and had finished their lunch. At least there had been food and actual coffee.

 

But now he was standing on the back porch, having the first cigarette he'd had in a while, and trying to relax. He'd told them who would be needed and they had agreed it was probably easier to explain it all once. Then they had told him he could smoke on the back porch.

Honestly, he didn't mind. It gave them time to make the necessary phone calls, and besides, the house felt strange. He knew it belonged to Belle and Rumplestiltskin, but he had not been prepared for his own reaction. It wasn't a house, it was a home, a home that belonged to two people who were very much in love. Rush felt like an intruder, like he didn't belong. It was a more familiar feeling than he wanted to admit. Honestly, he'd not felt anywhere was home, not since Gloria died.

"All right out there?" Emma Swan asked as she came out the kitchen door. He shrugged. "I called everyone or at least everyone that we need."

"And who all is that, then?" he asked, lighting another cigarette. He was certain that it meant more than the people he'd been specifically told about.

"Besides Regina, Blue and Jefferson? You asked for them. Then there is Mary Margaret and David, my parents, they function jointly as the mayor."

"Thought your parents were Snow White and Prince Charming," he said.

"They are, though it's Prince David, well, King now I guess, Charming is a nickname, long story. Thought you might be more comfortable with their names in this world. Anyway, besides those, Moe French, Belle's father, and our son, Henry, who will be here with Regina. Then there is Dove, he's...I don't know how to describe him, and I don't know his story either. He works for Gold. Apparently he has worked for him since before. Then Ruby's bringing food from the diner, oh, and Archie Hopper, just because."

"Who are all these people and why are they necessary? I'm not some sort of zoo animal," he growled. He remembered what TJ and Greer had said about everyone living in each other's pockets. Even what he could remember from sharing Rumplestiltskin's mind told him that this was how things were done here. It didn't make it any easier.

"It's a lot to take, isn't it?" Emma said, sympathetically. "I get it, believe me, I do. Except for Henry and some of the children, I'm the only one who didn't grow up in a fairy tale world full of magic and things."

"I thought..." He wasn't actually sure what he thought. There was a lot in Rumplestiltskin's head and only some of it he shared. There was something vague about a tree or something, but the memory swam away.

"Long story. I was born there, sent here for my protection. It's complicated."

"Is anything here not?" Rush asked, flicking the end of his cigarette.

"Usually, no. But you get used to it."

"No offense, Emma, but I doubt I will be here long enough to get used to it. At least if all goes to plan." There was no answer to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I didn't get this finished when I planned to, but it was much longer than expected so I hope that makes up for the wait. Hope you like what you are reading, please remember to leave those comments, they are very helpful and keep me going. 
> 
> What do you think Rush's reaction to meeting everyone will be? 
> 
> Next chapter, Telford is back on Destiny, and curious about 'Richard Gold', while back in Storybrooke, Rush gets his first look at storybook characters.


	30. Introductions

 

 

 

 

Belle and Rumplestilskin entered the mess together. "Now, try to be nice," she told him quietly. "Remember, Richard Gold, small town attorney, not Rumplestiltskin, feared sorcerer."

"How about feared small town attorney?" he said, giving her a half smile. When she didn't return it, he acquiesced. "I'll be fine, love," he said. He was feeling rather mellow actually. After they had showered and eaten, she had dragged him back to their quarters and made him take a nap. It wasn't something he was particularly fond of, but the last week had taken a toll on the body that he was now the sole occupant of, so he allowed her to tuck him in, as long as she laid with him until he fell asleep. Certainly he felt better than he had. Of course, most of that could be put down to having time with Belle. One advantage to being on the far side of the galaxy, the King and Queen were not on his doorstep needing help, and taking his time with his wife.

"Hey Miss Belle," Greer said. The big man had a smile for her, but Rumple knew that he was safe, at least he was fairly certain of it. "Mr. Gold." the marine greeted him. It was clear that he didn't know exactly how to deal with the man in Rush's body. Something about the way he treated Belle reminded the sorcerer of the dwarf, Grumpy, or Leroy, and for that alone, he was willing to give them man a certain amount of credit.

"Just Gold is fine, Sargeant," he said, offering a hand to him. It was best to be polite to big man. He'd not forgotten how he had come to Belle's aid before, nor would he.

"Gold. I met your son and daughter in law, nice folks."

"I think so, but I could be biased."

"Hey, you two, come and join us," Chloe Armstrong called from where she was sitting down. "I saved you seats." Given his choice, Rumplestiltskin would have preferred to have dinner alone with Belle. Actually, given a choice and knowing what he did about the food, he would have preferred to skip the entire thing, but he knew Belle would object. Besides, regardless of how revolting it was, his wife needed to eat. Instead, he took both of their plates from Becker, and followed Belle to the table, where Chloe and Lieutenant Scott, her lover, and Greer and a woman named Park, that his time sharing with Rush told him was one of the engineers attached to the science team, were already in place.

"So, Mr. Gold," Chloe started slowly. It seemed people didn't know exactly what to do with him. "What do you think of Destiny?" It was all she could think of. The situation was awkward. Most times, the person using the stones was someone from one of the science teams, there for a specific reason, and generally known to someone on the crew. But this was a very different situation.

"I can honestly say, I never thought I would find myself in a situation like this," he said. It was no answer, but it was enough to start a conversation about how they had all arrived on Destiny.

"I always wanted to be a pilot," Scott put in. "I thought about astronaut training, put my papers in, got turned down. Next thing you know, I got transferred to the SGC. I was pretty shocked."

"You and me both, brother," Greer said. He looked down at his plate where he was halfway through some kind of meatloaf made from the leftovers of that alien elk they had shot. "This ain't bad, but I gotta say, that diner of yours kind of spoiled me. "

"Granny's is quite something," Rumplestiltskin agreed. Belle slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Be nice. Just because you and Granny have been bickering for years..."

"Of course, love," he told her.

"Why do you call her Granny? I mean..."

"Well, I certainly don't," Rumplestiltskin said with mock distaste. "However, she has raised her granddaughter Ruby, since she was a babe."

"Ruby calls her Granny, most of us just picked it up over the years. Ruby is one of my closest friends and Granny is practically family," Belle said.

"Your side," Gold muttered to the general amusement of all.

"It's all wasted on Rush," Greer said. "Don't think he knows what he's eating half the time. Probably wouldn't eat at all if TJ didn't threaten him regularly."

"Oh, he knows, he just has other things on his mind," Park said with a smile. She seemed to genuinely be the most positive person, like Belle.

"My daughter in law will see to it. She's very strong willed, like my Belle," he said giving his wife a smile.

"Yeah, she seems like not much gets past her," Greer said.

"It's a good trait in a sheriff."

The conversation became general after that. Scott took off and his place was taken by the engineer, Brody, who invited them down to enjoy the latest fruits of his still and experiments in alcohol creation. They were considering their answer when Colonel Young came in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gold, good. I was looking to talk to you. It seems that I will be using the stones tomorrow. I've been requested at an IGA meeting," he said, as if that would make any sense to them.

"What has this to do with us?" Gold asked cautiously.

"Colonel Telford. Mrs. Gold has already...er....met him. The man practically lives on the other end. Knowing I am needed, I'll bet he's waiting to change with me."

"That unpleasant man," Belle said.

"Thought I'd warn you. Might be best if you stayed close to your quarters while I'm gone. You have Rush's radio, so..."

"Thank you, Colonel Young. I'm certain we can find something to amuse ourselves with, but if it's necessary, I am certain that I can deal with Telford."

There seemed something, a strange glittering in the other man's eyes, gone in a second. Young dismissed it. He was seeing things, he was sure. At least, he tried to convince himself of it as he went to collect his dinner. After all, what could a lawyer do, threaten to sue him? _Actually_ , Young thought, _I'd pay to see that._

 

When he could no longer reasonably remain outside, Rush went into the house. He had stayed a while after his conversation with Emma Swan, now being alone with his own thoughts was not making him any happier. He knew he had time before they could get the meeting together. It didn't make the waiting any easier, especially when it seemed that there would be people who weren't necessary or at least he didn't think they were. But what did he know?

Rather than think too much, he had decided for getting cleaned up. Emma had to return to work for a bit, but Bae accompanied him. Rush started up the stairs, but the journey was not made any easier by the cane and the fact that he wasn't accustomed to using it.

"Bathroom's here," the young man said, opening a door to a nice big bathroom equipped with both a large shower and a claw footed tub. "First door there is Henry's room, for when he stays over. The master is on the left. Everything you need..." he said a little awkwardly.

"Is there even a chance that your father has something more..." Rush asked waving at the suit he was wearing.

"Casual? Papa? He might have something for weekends at the cabin, but this is pretty much what he wears most of the time. Mom, Belle, she considered it a victory when she finally convinced him to stop wearing a tie to family dinners."

"You really call her Mom?" Rush asked. The dynamic between them was odd, but then the entire situation was odd.

Bae shrugged. "It started as a joke between us, sort of teasing her about being my stepmom. But I use both, especially when I'm worried about her. It's rather like I'm called Bae, which is the name I was given at birth, short for Baelfire, which is a good name back home. But I spent a long time as Neal. I answer to both. Henry calls her Belle, unless he is distinguishing hwe from his other grandmother. She doesn't have a cursed name, like most of them. Besides, Belle, she's special, and not just to my papa. She kind of...she gave him back to me, so..." he stopped, pretty sure he had said too much. Rush didn't push.

"I know about at least some of that." he said simply.  There was no way the scientist was going to tell him about the sharing, about feeling the loss.

"Okay, if you need anything, just yell. I need to make some calls. Just because Papa isn't around, doesn't mean the rent still doesn't need to be collected, and things fixed," Bae said, turning to go.

"Bae, or do you prefer Neal?" he asked.

"Call me Bae. Papa could never call me anything else. It would be too weird, which around here says a lot."

"Bae 'tis then. Thank you." Rush said. The words came out as if they pained him, and the young man wondered exactly how alike the two men really were, as he went back downstairs.

 

After a very long shower, a luxury he had not had in far too long, he went in search of clothes. He thought he handled the differences better than Rumplestiltskin had, of course, he had been prepared. At least he was until he got a look at the man's bad leg. Knowing intellectually that he'd shattered his lower leg with a sledge hammer in a land with, from what he could tell, medieval level medical technology was a lot different from seeing it attached to you. That was going to take a certain amount of getting used to.

Rather than dwell on it, he went into the bedroom that Rumplestiltskin shared with Belle. He didn't spend too much time there though. He didn't want to be there, to see the place where they lived together, where they loved together. It hurt too much. Despite the fact that he had been sharing his body with the man, standing in the bedroom he felt like an intruder. Idly he wondered if there was a guest room he could sleep in.

Now that he was separate from Gold, he could tell which feelings were his again. Rush found that he was still legitimately attracted to Belle, no surprise, really. She was a beautiful woman, and given time, he knew he could easily fall in love with her. But now he was getting his second chance and with a woman who could share his work. Still despite all this, it was too close to what he had with Gloria, and he didn't want to think about all this right now. Rush ended up back in the suit they had chosen for him. It seemed better and easier than rifling through the closets and drawers.

When he finished dressing, he made his way back down the stairs, carefully. He heard voices in the kitchen and made his way back there. There was a young lad, about twelve or thirteen sitting at the counter. Dark hair and brown eyes like his father (and his grandfather for that matter) clearly meant that this was Henry, not that he was expecting any other children.

"Hey, you must be Doctor Rush. You're the man who is going to get Belle back, right?"

"You don't beat around the bush, do you lad? You seem to be handling all of this remarkably well."

The teenager just shrugged. "Suppose so, but I grew up in Storybrooke. I mean it's different, isn't it, science versus magic and all that. It's kind of cool though," Henry said. "How are you going to get Grandma Belle back? Is it magic, or some kind of technology?"

"Henry, leave the poor guy alone. We'll all hear it later," Bae said, coming in from the hallway.

"It's all right. What allows me to be here is some extremely advanced alien technology, but to get Belle back, that is going to take something else."

"There are real aliens? I thought that was just science fiction. Have you met any?" he asked eagerly.

Rush found himself sitting down and telling the lad about all the alien species he had met. It took some getting used to, the idea that this lad could talk about fairies and dwarves and magic as if it was commonplace, but was surprised by aliens. But considering his recent experiences, Rush shouldn't be surprised.

"Science is okay," Henry told him. "But I've got magic, born with it, because of my parents and my grandparents. Grandpa is going to teach me to use it too. Well, as soon as my moms..."

"Hmmmm." the sound of Bae clearing his throat interrupted.

"As soon as my moms, my papa, and my grandpa all agree that I'm old enough," he amended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know I promised Telford but I realised I needed to clean up some things. Besides, I wanted them to have some time to prepare. Thank you for reading, and as usual, please comment and all those lovely things. I genuinely enjoy hearing from you all.


	31. Arrivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone gathers for a council...not without its bumps.

 

The first people to arrive for the meeting were, quite literally, Snow White and Prince Charming. To say that it was disturbing was an understatement, but she was apparently exactly as nice as one would expect a fairy tale princess to be. She was genuinely positive, rather like Park back on Destiny. "You can call me Mary Margaret, if it makes you more comfortable," she told him. "We don't stand on a lot of ceremony around here. It's one of the things I like about this world." Then Henry came into the the kitchen, hugged his grandmother and dragged her away saying something about homework.

"And I'm David," the big blond said, shaking his hand. He had an open friendly face that he knew from Rumplestiltskin covered a stout heart, as they used to say, and a not half bad strategic mind.

But before they could get further than introductions, there was a knock on the kitchen door and David opened it and stepped back immediately as a tall girl with red streaked hair and the shortest skirt he had seen in recent memory came through with a pile of boxes. "Make way for the food," she said, moving between them to get to the bar. "Sandwiches, it was easy. Granny sent a couple of pies too, and a box of cookies. Can someone?"

"I'll get them," David said and hurried out.

Rush identified the woman as Red or Ruby, though he refused to entertain the rest of it. After all, werewolves? It was a bit much to believe, though there was something about her, like a scent that was vaguely odd.

"You aren't Rumplestiltskin," she said, looking him over. "I mean, they explained it, but I don't quite understand how it all works." Ruby looked like she was sizing him up, or possibly assessing his potential, for what, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "It's weird."

"Nicholas Rush, and how so?" he asked curiously.

"Hard to explain. My senses are different, even when I am in control. Something keeps telling me that you should smell different, and you don't. Make sense?"

"Not really," he answered. "Though you are..."

"Yeah, Rumplestiltskin's senses are enhanced too, and since you are in his body, you can smell the wolf," she said casually, as if they were talking about something that happened every day. "It takes some getting used to. Don't know what he told you and we aren't exactly the same, but if you need some hints," she volunteered.

"Thank you," he said a little stiffly. The openness, the willingness of these people who he knew didn't entirely trust or like the other man completely, was making him uncomfortable. It reminded him of what Greer had said about the closeness of the community and how no one tried to hide why they were there.

Fortunately, David returned, carrying two boxes. "Look who I found outside," he said as he came in. The man who entered was, in a word, huge. He was also vaguely familiar.

"Hey Dove," Bae said as he entered the kitchen from the other door. "David, Mary Margaret wants you to get her bag from the car. Hey Ruby." The big man nodded to Bae, but didn't move. "Dr Rush, this is Dove. He'll be helping you, take you whereever you need, like that. His number is in Pop's phone.

"Thank you, I can take care of myself," he said, just a little sharply.

"It's my job, sir." The man spoke for the first time. Rush was surprised by how soft spoken he was, especially for a man his size.

Before Rush could reply or argue, Bae shook his head, a look that said they could discuss it later. Instead he asked the man to help him in the other room, leaving Rush alone with the girl, Red.

"Sorry, no hamburgers with extra pickles," she said as she opened the boxes. "Just sandwiches."

"I'm not that keen on pickles, to be honest," he admitted.

"Definitely not Rumplestiltskin then," Red said with a smile, getting busy with the food.

Rush felt he had become surplus to requirements, so he limped into the other room where Dove was helping move chairs from the dining room. He was following him, still learning the layout of the house when the front bell rang.

"Someone get that," Bae called from the other room. As he was closest, he went into the foyer and opened the door.

He recognised the woman from Gold's memories, but he was still a little taken aback. She was beautiful, certainly, in a polished, very well put together way. Black hair pulled up on top of her head, blood red lipstick, not a hair out of place, she had everything under control from the top of her head, to the soles of her undoubtably designer shoes. She smiled, at him but it wasn't the friendly smile of Mary Margaret or Red, more like she was assessing him, which she probably was. He could feel that 'complicated' relationship. Also, there was something about her that made him...tingle a bit. 'Magic,' he thought, though the voice in his head sounded a little too much like Gold.

"You are not Rumplestiltskin," she said. There was almost an accusation there.

"So people keep telling me," he responded with asperity. "Dr. Nicholas Rush," he said as he stepped back to allow her inside. "You are Regina Mills, Gold told me a great deal about you."

"I doubt that.  Rumple has never been one to share more information that was strictly necessary, by his definition."

"He had to," Rush replied. "I gather you are aware of the situation?"

"The sheriff called, and I was there when those other two came. But you...well at least you look like you fit in the body better. I saw the picture."

"It's close enough," he admitted, almost smiling. Definitely complicated.

"So, who else is invited to this little party?" she asked, preceding him into the living room, where the two men had been joined by David, and were making seating room.

"That are required? Someone named Jefferson, and..." he paused. They took their fairytale nature in stride, of course, they lived it, but it was hard enough for him to accept it. It wasn't easy to say it, not without feeling faintly ridiculous. "The Blue..."

"Blue?" she interrupted, saving him from saying it. "I understand Jefferson, or at least I have some idea, not certain exactly how...anyway. But what does..." she was cut off by the doorbell.

"Regina, Henry's in Papa's office with Snow, something about a homework project for school," Bae said.

Rush turned to answer the door, at least he could be useful in that way. This time it was a tall man with dark hair, a slightly manic smile and the loudest waistcoat he had ever had the misfortune to see. With him was a young blond girl, about Henry's age. "Rumple, old man, so what is the..." He paused and his eyes narrowed, as something struck him. "Grace, sweetheart, why don't you find Henry," he said to the girl.

"He's in the office with his grandmother," Rush said. Clearly the girl didn't need any more directions.

"Thank you," she said politely and hurried into the living room, a chorus of greeting following.

Rush started to close the door when the man grabbed the front of his shirt, and slammed him against the stair. The cane clattered to the floor and Rush could feel something crackling, like that feeling he had before, with Cavanagh. What he didn't know was what it was or how to control it. "Alright, who are..." the man growled, leaning closer.

"Oh my God, Jefferson, Stop! It's okay," Emma Swan said, rushing in from the back of the house. He didn't care at that moment if she had come from Mars as long as she got the madman off him before something happened.

"Emma, he's not..."

"I know, Jefferson. That's part of why you are here. He isn't Rumplestiltskin, and he doesn't know anything about magic," she said pointedly.

The man looked at Rush's hands, one on his arm the other scrabbling against the spindle of the stair, and dropped him, more or less gently. The wave subsided, leaving him feeling a little uncomfortable. "Sorry," the madman, identified as Jefferson said stiffly, but he was still eyeing him warily.

This was the man that Rumplestiltskin trusted to get Belle back? Rush adjusted his collar, leaning against the stair as a brace.

"You're lucky you aren't a snail, Hatter, or worse," Emma said, shaking her head.

"What's..." Bae had rushed in to find out what was going on, David and Dove behind him.

"No one warned the Hatter about Rush," Emma said, eyes narrowing at Bae.

"Well, it's not something you can explain on voicemail," her husband said, embarrassed. He dropped down and retrieved the cane and handed to the man who was not his father.

"Well, we have another problem," Jefferson said. "You have no idea how to control your...er... Rumplestiltskin's magic, do you?"

"Great Gods of the Underworld," Regina swore, having slipped into the room at that. "Tell me this is a joke."

"Of course I bloody don't," Rush growled. "Not that long ago, I thought magic was the provence of fantastical literature and fairy tales, just like you lot." He was irritated, and the tingling was back, like an itch he couldn't scratch.

"Great, just great. You have the gifts of the most powerful sorcerer in all the realms and no clue how to control it, much less use it. I hope Rumple's insurance is paid up."

The foyer was silent as her words sunk in. "Regina, you've got to..." Emma started.

"Me, why me?" Regina snapped back.

"Because he trained you. You know more about him and his powers than anyone here that I know of."

"He's training you as well, or would be if..."

Before the bickering could escalate, Bae stepped between them. "Both of you, not helping. Regina, it needs to be you. You are the only one that has a vague chance of defending yourself without winding up a snail. But right now, we need to figure out what Papa's plan is. The faster we get it done..." Both woman nodded. It was as close as they got to apologising to each other.

The doorbell rang again as they were all standing in the foyer, and Jefferson opened the door.

"Oh...er...are we late?" Archie Hopper asked nervously, looking at the crowd. "I stopped to pick up the Mother Superior." He stepped in, followed by the one person that could have possibly made the situation even more uncomfortable.

"Hello, could someone tell me what's happening? Why am I here? I got a message that I was needed."

The Blue Fairy had arrived.

After a moment of discomfort, where everyone wondered what to do, and Emma and Regina kept glancing at Rush to make sure he was safe, Snow came through from the living room. She took in the situation and immediately took over. She sent Bae to get the children. "Let's everyone get some food, and sit down, planning goes much better on a full stomach," she was saying as Moe French, who had been immediately behind the therapist and the fairy entered and closed the door, looking concerned and confused.

"Why don't we let the kids take their plates and their homework to the library?" Emma suggested. Everyone seemed to understand what she was getting at, well everyone but Rush. Certainly they were all nodding.

"Library's on the third floor," David whispered as they filed toward the dining room. "And the stairs creak, I think deliberately, so there is less of a chance of eavesdropping, and believe me, if they could they would." Rush just nodded, wondering what exactly it was that Rumplestiltskin had got him into with the benighted plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, thanks to everyone who is reading this. Hopefully I will get to Telford soon, but I just couldn't help myself. Please enjoy, read, comment, tell me how I am doing...all that kind of thing.


	32. A Plan explained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush explains Rumplestiltskin's plan, while the community finds that another danger might be lurking.

 

 

 

They all got plates of sandwiches, potato salad and cole slaw from where Ruby had set everything out on the dining room table. Rush was introduced to Archie Hopper. "It used to be Jimminy, but I never liked that name particularly and I'm no longer a cricket so..." the young man said with a shrug.

"He's Storybrooke's best psychologist," Ruby explained with a smile that made the man blush as red as his hair.

"I'm Storybrooke's _only_ psychologist," he told Rush quietly.

The physicist nodded and started to move away toward the cookies when a large hand landed on his arm. He flinched, a reaction that even after all these years, he couldn't stop.

"You know who I am?" The man asked.

"You're Belle's father," Rush answered him carefully. From Rumplestiltskin he knew that their relationship had been difficult at best, but at the moment, he didn't look particularly threatening.

"Just tell me," Moe asked softly. "Tell me my daughter is all right, that he's keeping her safe." In those words he could read a wealth of concern, but there was also something else, the knowledge that she was with someone who would do anything for her.

"When I...came here," Rush replied carefully. "She was fine. In all likelihood, they will be remaining in my quarters aboard Destiny. I am certain that he won't let her out of his sight. In fact, Belle has already made several friends among the crew, so they have allies."

"That's my girl, she was always good at seeing something special in people." Moe smiled. "Look at who she married."

Rush nodded, if nothing else he had reassured her father. As soon as he wandered away to find a plate, the madman, Jefferson approached him. His first thought was to drop his plate and prepare for another assault, but the man didn't look threatening.

"Sorry about earlier," Jefferson told him. "Rumplestiltskin is...well a friend, I suppose. He's helped me out of more than a few problems and was one of the few anchors to reality I had when..." he didn't finish and Rush didn't ask. Rumplestiltskin's memories were fragmented in his mind, but he knew that they had bonded over loss and more than that he neither needed nor wanted to know.

"How did you know I wasn't him?" Rush asked. "The others were told beforehand and I haven't been trying to hide, but..."

"Ahhh, you see, I'm not a sorcerer, per se," Jefferson answered, more at ease. "I have a touch of magic though, very specific magic that allows me to move between realms. Not all of them, mind you. But I can sense it in others, and I can see it, or rather I am used to the way Rumplestiltskin feels. You look like him, and you have his magic, but your...essence isn't quite right. Does that make sense?"

"Not particularly," Rush admitted. "But I think I take your meaning, at least in broad strokes. The technology allows us to swap consciousness, but there is something different. I had thought it was because the body wasn't familiar. But he and I are..."

"The two of you could be twins," Emma said as she drifted over.

"Really?" Jefferson said curiously, but before he could say more, Mary Margaret got everyone's attention and suggested that they go into the other room and begin. As Queen and a primary school teacher, she had plenty of experience getting people to go where she wanted them.

He noticed Henry and Grace being herded towards the stairs by Bae. The young man waited at the bottom until he heard them pound up both flights, no doubt disappointed that someone was watching. "I know them too well," he said as Rush passed him.

 

Once they were all sitting in the living room, things got quiet and more than a little awkward. Everyone was eating and looking at one another as if waiting for someone to say something. "Well, shall we get started?" Mary Margaret asked brightly. Actually, her perky attitude was getting right on his tit, and he was fairly sure it had the same effect on the sorcerer in question. "Dr. Rush, would you like to explain the...situation. Some of us have heard part of this already, but..."

"I will tell you what I know. I'm Dr. Nicholas Rush and I am the lead scientist on a project that involved the exploration of..." he stopped. No one here was likely to understand the Stargate program nor would they probably care. "I'm part of a team that was exploring some alien technology. While under attack, we escaped with the help of the device we were working on and ended up on an alien vessel a very long way from here. That was close to a year ago. A little over a week ago while looking for supplies on an alien planet, the reconnaissance team found Belle, and brought her aboard Destiny and..." he paused for a bite of his sandwich and to get the words straight. This was the hard part. "And when I saw her it triggered...something. The only way I can describe it is that Gold...er...Rumplestiltskin's consciousness woke up inside me." There were some shocked looks around the room especially from the psychologist and the nun, whose other name he refused to entertain.

"Do we have an idea of what caused it in the first place?" David asked.

"That's no question for me," Rush said. "He and Belle were attacked, I know that much. I know nothing about magic, but he did...something while the attacker was..."

"Is the attacker still here in town, do we know?" someone asked.

"When I found Gold in the woods, the area around him looked like a bomb had gone off. The only person there was him. I found what might have been a magic wand. I gave it to Regina..."

"Recognized neither the wand nor the magic," Regina said with a shrug. "I went back to the scene at the Sheriff's request. From a magical perspective, that's accurate, a bomb did go off. Obviously I recognized Rumple's magic. At a guess, he used his magic against the other's source of power as they were casting a spell. That kind of thing can have serious consequences. He must have done something to protect Belle and only managed to partially protect himself. He's immortal or pretty close to, so...I am pretty much guessing."

"And the attacker?" David asked, probably concerned with the safety of the town. If Rumplestiltskin's memories were accurate, they had been through some interesting times, in the Chinese curse sense.

"No sign," Emma said. "With Gold in a coma, no one to ask, but I didn't see any sign that someone walked away."

"If they did, they did it without magic," Regina told them. A quiet murmur ran around the room. That didn't make anyone feel particularly safe.

"But then how did he end up..." Rush started, but couldn't really express himself. Numbers, maths, he understand. This stuff was beyond him, and he didn't like it.

"I couldn't tell you that, but I've seen the picture. You are as close as I would have thought possible, closer. But right now we have other things to worry about, like getting you back where you belong and the two of them back here," Emma said.

Rush continued his story, explaining the difficulties or some of them. They didn't need to know about the more personal details, and he had no desire to tell them. "We decided to use the stones," he concluded. "The idea was to get one of us in each body. It was the only way I was going to survive." There was silence for a moment.

"So why are you here, instead of Rumplestiltskin?" Jefferson asked. "Or was it just luck of the draw?"

"No, it was entirely deliberate," Rush told him. "He has a plan to get both of them back, but apparently it will take a lot of...magic." He was still getting used to saying that word without cringing.

"O-k-ay..."

"From Destiny, he can access it, but my body isn't accustomed to..."

"You mean you have no magic?" the Blue Fairy asked in shock. "This man is a loose cannon waiting to go off. Why has no one done something?" she demanded.

Her tone of voice angered him, set off something deep inside, the memories of some of the reasons that Rumplestiltskin didn't like her. The tingling started to build again and he was trying to figure out how to get it to stop.

"Enough, Blue," Mary Margaret said.

Regina moved to stand next to him, though whether it was to save the annoying...woman, or to get out of the line of fire, he didn't know.

"What can we do to help?" the Queen asked, turning away from the nun.

"That is where it gets complicated," Rush said. Then he began to explain. When he had finished, Jefferson and Regina were both nodding, and even the nun seem to understand more than he did. It made him feel slightly better that the people they were relying on could see what it all meant.

"I think I understand this," Regina said. "It's actually brilliant, but then he always was. Do not tell him I said that. Rumplestiltskin is using himself as a sort of magical beacon, I suppose you would say."

"Something I can connect to, use it to guide the hat," Jefferson agreed. "He put you here because this is going to take raw power, a lot of it, but I wouldn't have necessarily been able to reach you, if you even knew what to do. Belle is a dear girl, but she has no magic either..." At this point the man was clearly thinking out loud. "You understand the rules though? The same number that go through have to come back?"

"I do, he explained it, and I have a possibility. A colleague of mine is coming to Storybrooke. I am certain that she will agree, and Gold...well he saw it as well. This is her dream too." Jefferson nodded, half his mind still working on the details.

"We will also need memory potion, a lot of it. I think we will all be happier if no one on Destiny, or with the Air Force period, remembers that this ever happened."

After that the meeting broke up a bit. Mary Margaret volunteered to help with assembling the potion ingredients, joined by Moe French. "I'm certain if I don't have the botanicals, I can get them, or recognise them."

"Yes, Rumple's got some of this in his garden, I'm sure. The magical plants are beyond the pergola and the roses," Regina commented. She was busy making a list for the queen from memory. "I have some of this as well. It's a matter of quantity."

Emma and David had huddled with Bae to consider a way of finding out if there was a strange magic user in town, even without a wand. They were joined by Ruby. The wolf girl worked in the diner, so she saw pretty much everyone. They had agreed that, knowing that Rumplestitlskin had no memory of what had happened to his attacker, it was better to be safe that sorry.

"Excuse me," the nun said. "But I am still confused. Why am I here? Our magics are incompatible at best, and even if I wanted to help, there is little I can do outside contributing to the memory potion." Her tone was prissy, and irritating.

Emma, watching Rush, was considering whether or not she would try to stop the man if he lost control, but before she could deside, Regina stepped in. "Yes, a fairy is not a lot of use to us for this kind of thing, and frankly, she and Rumple are hardly friends. Why did he want her here?'

"He told me she could help. It's for Mandi, Dr. Perry, the colleague I mentioned."

"And what am I meant to do for her? I will have nothing to do with violating her will..." the fairy said.

"It's not her will, it's her body," Rush snapped. "She's a quadriplegic, condemned to spend her life in a chair, unable to move more than her head."

"That is definitely more your provence than mine," Regina agreed, looking at the shorter woman. "Even without the outlay of magic this is already going to take, I've never been good for more than basic healing."

"Why should I..." Blue started.

Rush could feel the anger and antagonism rising and pushed it brutally down. He was tired, and this whole magic thing was making him edgy. But like Rumplestiltskin, he had always been good at manipulating people and he knew just the argument to make. "You would refuse her help? Amanda has been stuck in this condition since she was eight, just a child. It was an automobile accident, one that took the lives of her parents. But despite that she is...amazing. She made it through school, earned several degrees. She's one of the most brilliant people I have ever known and this will allow her to actually see and do the work that so far she has only been able to imagine."

 

The fairy gave in. There was no choice, really. To withhold her help would violate one of the central tenants of being a fairy, and most of the people in the room knew it. Not to mention what it would do to her image. _Besides_ , she thought, _did she really want Rumplestliltskn back in Storybrooke without Belle? He, like Regina, had been working hard at being a better person. They had even managed a tentative truce. Breaking it would serve no one_. "Very well, if she agrees."

"She will, it is everything she has wanted."

"I might suggest, however, for the duration of your stay, and for the safety of all concerned..." Everyone was looking at her now. "I am certain that Rumplestiltskin still has that cuff."

There was a gasp from Regina and something stirred in Rush, something from his shared memory burned through him, a phantom of pain and something else that he couldn't name. His fingers began to crackle with power.

"Rush," Emma said moving towards him but not daring to touch him. "Dr. Rush," she said more loudly, trying to get through to him.

"You had to bring that up, brilliant idea," Regina said sarcastically. "Rush, we won't be using it. I give you my word." She stepped between them.

"He is a significant danger to this town," the Blue Fairy said.

"Which is why I will be training him, at least enough not to blow anything or anyone up.  He's going to need to know something about magic in order for this plan to work. I can't teach him with that blasted cuff on." Rush had calmed somewhat helped by Mary Margaret who was hustling the nun out, probably assuring he he wasn't going to blast her into next week.

"If Mandi didn't need her..."

"When she's finished her part, I have no objection," Regina said to him. "But until we need her, I would suggest keeping your distance."

"I need a cigarette," he said. _And to get away from these people for a little while. They are all mad, and I am going there too._ he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know I keep promising you Telford, but this just needed to be done. And now we can get back to Destiny with some idea of what is going on. Thank you for sticking with me. Please do that comment thing, let me know what you think.


	33. Pushing and pushing back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Rush tries to get a handle on Storybrooke, Rumplestiltskin takes the measure of Telford.

Rumplestiltskin woke up in the darkness of space. It was disconcerting and he couldn't wait to get back to having a planet under him. The only saving grace was Belle, curled up comfortably around him. She was beautiful. Part of him wanted to wake her again to make love, but the rest decided she needed her sleep and there was always tomorrow.

He spared a thought to Rush, back in Storybrooke, and wondered how the irascible scientist was handling it. Probably should have warned him about the magic, he thought. After all it was completely natural to his body having become accustomed to it over the last few hundred years. _He will figure it out soon enough,_ Rumplestiltskin thought as he pulled Belle closer and settled down for sleep.

 

Nicholas Rush watched the sun rise over the trees from the back porch of the big house. He had gotten very little sleep the night before. It wasn't surprising. It had all been a bit much, and considering what he called normal, that was saying something. The meeting had broken up last night and everyone had left save Emma, Bae, and Henry. They had offered to stay with him, just so he could get settled, but he'd refused. Rush needed time to think. Emma had nodded and, after making sure he had everything he needed, they had left him alone in the empty house.

He had contemplated more coffee, it had been a long time and even though he had thought things always tasted funny in another body, drinking coffee...doing anything in Rumplestiltskin's body, was more...intense, the side effect of his enhanced senses. Instead he had gone into the back, to Gold's office. The room was so classic it was almost a movie set. The big desk, the leather chair, and the walls covered with books, it all looked used, lived in. He also found a decanter of what turned out to be rather exceptional scotch.

Rush had given serious consideration to getting completely and gloriously drunk, but had reconsidered. Besides the fact that there was a lot to do tomorrow, he didn't want to let his guard down. Magic might come in handy, but it was also complicated and the imp would not thank him for setting his house on fire, or turning it into something, or...well he had no idea what he was capable of, to be honest. Instead, he poured a glass of scotch, just to ease his leg, and settled behind the desk to place a phone call on the black, old fashioned phone.

When he'd finished his call, he had sought a bed. Nick thought about finding pajamas, but decided he was in no frame of mind to deal with the other man's wardrobe. Instead, after making his way upstairs, he had looked for and found behind one of the other doors, a guest room. There he'd stripped down to his underwear and fallen into the bed.

Unfortunately, sleep did not come easily, and what he managed was uneasy. Finally, when the clock registered 5:00, he'd given it up as a bad job, dragged back on the trousers and made his way downstairs to find coffee. That was how he found himself still sitting on the porch as dawn came. He'd found a legal pad and pen in the office (somehow going through desk drawers didn't feel like the same invasion of privacy), trying to focus on recreating the Ancient program from memory. It was a better option than thinking of any of the other disturbing things that were happening.

Amanda would arrive tomorrow if all went well. Meanwhile, Regina, the less evil and more sarcastic Queen, a trait he appreciated, had said she would be by this morning to give him his first magic lesson. He'd tried to thank her.

"Don't thank me, I'll expect a nice, juicy little favour from Rumple later. Besides, he would never forgive me if I let you do something to his house. He's rather attached to it."

She had seemed nonchalant, but Rush knew better. Complicated indeed, as the sorcerer had said, but there was also genuine affection there. He spared a brief thought to Rumplestiltskin and Belle aboard Destiny, but really, how much trouble could they possibly get into?

 

Belle dragged Rumplestiltskin down to the mess hall early, saying that she wanted to return the mending. "Besides, we should eat. I don't know when the colonel is doing that...exchange, but I would rather we both stayed out of the way."

Rumplestiltskin grumbled a little. He could have cheerfully skipped breakfast or any other meal on board this ship, but Belle needed to eat and was determined to make him. Actually, he was fairly certain that she was on a campaign to return Rush's body to him in better shape than it was before, not that it would take much to do that. The irritable scientist seemed to take about as little care as possible and still function. Not that Rumple didn't understand, he did, all too well. He had been much the same before Belle came. The difference being, he was immortal and could handle it, whereas Rush was running headlong into an early grave, probably deliberately. Of course the food was awful at best, and an empty bed with only nightmares for company was not exactly motivation, but if all went to plan, that wouldn't be a problem. Well, the empty bed, there was no cure for the food, not completely. Meanwhile, he was doing his part to see that the body got appropriate rest and...exercise.

They had managed a quick and quiet breakfast when Young passed through, telling them he was on his way to Earth. With that warning, the couple returned to their quarters.

"Keep Rush's radio on," Scott advised them. "I'll try to keep him from..."

"Being himself?" Belle suggested.

"That too," the young Lieutenant said with a broad, open grin. A very earnest lad, Rumplestiltskin thought. "There are plenty of other things he could be dong here, but I'll make sure that it comes over the radio if we are headed your way."

"Thank you, Matthew," Belle said before they separated.

 

Scott stood in the communications room with James, Riley operating the rig, hoping that it was just about anyone on the other side, one of the scientists, that neurologist to confer with TJ or run tests on Rush's body, anyone but..."

"Lieutenant Scott, report. What the hell has been going on up here? First there is this alien woman..."

 _Telford. Nope, I couldn't be that lucky._ "She's not an alien, sir. With all due respect, we did a thorough background check. They are who they say they are."

"I'll be the judge of that," Telford growled.

"Sir, TJ can show you the tests. They've been confirmed by Doctor..."

"Get Lieutenant Johanson and Sergeant Greer, they did the background check. I want to see them right now, I'll use Young's office. Then I'm going to want to interrogate Mr. and Mrs. Gold. Have they at least been locked in the brig?"

"We don't have a brig, Sir," Scott reminded him as they walked down the corridor to the Colonel's office. "I'm pretty certain they are in her quarters, or possibly in observation. She'd been taking care of our mending. I believe we told you that last time. Mr. Gold...well, Camille hasn't found him anything, he's a lawyer, so not much use here. Besides, TJ wanted him to rest. I don't understand the details, but apparently having them both in there was dangerous, physically and..."

"I don't care, I want them guarded...What is wrong with you people? I should have you all up on charges," the man growled.

 

"Sir, with all due respect..."

"Don't give me that, Scott. Young is fucking derelict in his duty at the very least. Now get Johanson and Greer down here, pronto. Dismissed."

"TJ, Greer, come in. I need you down in the Colonel's office, ASAP."

"What's up?" Greer called back.

"Telford."

"On our way,"TJ replied. The medic grabbed her pad with the records on it. Maybe if they could keep him busy long enough, without Greer decking him again, Young would get back. At least she hoped he got back before Telford did some damage. She doubted that Gold would take Telford near Belle well at all. She considered briefly if she ought to take a sedative with her, unfortunately supplies were thin.

 

Halfway through TJ's medical explanation, Telford cut her off. "So what are we saying, that somehow this random couple from nowhere Maine just...what?"

"Dr Rush suspects that maybe they stumbled onto some tech, like the communications stones. He's planning to go out to the site with the sheriff and look into it."

"I scoped the area," Greer told him. "Looked like a bomb went off. Only thing I've ever really seen to compare it to is an overloaded Zat."

"What do they say?" Telford asked, grinding his, or rather, Young's, teeth.

"Belle doesn't remember anything. She thinks there was a flash of light. Gold said he thought there was an explosion. Of course with that kind of trauma, that may be all they ever remember. We're probably lucky to have that much."

"And no hint that they aren't telling us everything? They could be lying. Hell, the town could be full of Lucian Alliance, lost Goa'ld, or worse."

"I doubt that," Greer told him. Telford's attitude was starting to seriously get on his nerves. Belle was a nice lady, and her husband seemed a little standoffish, but he definitely loved her. "The town is tiny, Sir. Strangers would stick out. By the time we got to the Sheriff's office, half the town knew we were there. One gas station, one grocery store, one drug store. The only place to stay is the bed and breakfast and that's in the center of town, attached to the one and only diner."

"Besides that," TJ added. "Everyone knows everyone, or is related to them, went to school with them, lives next door, that kind of thing. It's a tight community. I just don't see..."

"Maybe you just weren't asking the right questions. Now, what about those tests? Do we have any idea why Gold and Rush are..."

"We got a sample of Gold's DNA to run against Rush's but these things take time. I'd be surprised if they aren't related. They look almost identical to me. I imagine Belle could tell you exactly what the differences are but..." She shrugged as if to imply she wasn't _that_ curious. "There is just no way they could be anyone but who they say they are. Gold is a big deal in Storybrooke, richest man in town, only lawyer, owns most of the commercial and rental property. Belle is the town librarian, lived there since she was a kid. I saw the photos. Her father is the town florist. Everyone knows them, and has for years. We talked to these people. It's all just too...connected."

"There has to be something. I mean, it's cliche, isn't it? Beautiful woman like her, married to a rich lawyer twenty years older? It's a damn harlequin romance novel," he told them icily. "Next you'll be telling me they are genuinely in love," Telford sneered. Greer looked at TJ and just smiled. If Young had gotten a slap with that attitude, Telford was signing up for a punch to the mouth. "This is all suspicious and if Young won't get to the bottom of it, then I will." He rose and started for the door. "Get Scott, you two are dismissed."

"Brother, you ain't gonna believe this," Greer said into the radio as soon as they were out of earshot and on private channel.

 

"I'm going to question the 'Golds'" Telford told Scott as soon as he joined the Colonel. "I trust you know where they are?"

"Eli, do you know where Belle and Gold are?" he asked into the radio, certain that they would hear.

"Back in their quarters since breakfast. Belle mentioned something about him getting some more rest when she gave me back my hoodie."

"Thanks, Eli," he said before turning back to the Colonel. "Eli has been keeping a kino in their corridor. Colonel Young's orders." Scott said, knowing it would irritate the man.

"Okay, I want to separate them as soon as we get there." Scott didn't say anything, just hoped that Young got back soon. Either that or, if not, when Gold took a swing, Eli got the kino footage. He was pretty sure that Young wouldn't even mind the pain too much.

They turned down the corridor and approached the door to the quarters that Belle and Gold were occupying. Scott pounded on the metal door, a hollow, metallic thump that more or less served to announce their presence.

"What is it?" a voice called from within, muffled by the distance and the door, a familiar voice.

"Mr. Gold, it's Lt. Scott and Col. Telford. We'd like to speak to you." Matt said

"Just a moment."

"Open it," Telford said.

"But sir, he just..."

"Open it, that's an order. They could be hiding something, best to catch them off guard."

Scott pressed the door pad, renewed his prayer for Young, and stepped back. As the door slid open there was a muffled swearing. Belle Gold was clutching the bed cover to herself and blushing. Scott instantly turned his head in respect, and hoped that Telford was doing the same.

'What the bloody hell..." Rush...Gold was pulling a pair of blue jeans up over his lean legs, hair ruffled, no shirt.

"Excuse me, we'll just..." Scott said. He was certain that this was planned, that they had been listening to the radio. He was equally certain that the whole thing was to distract Telford and put him on the defensive.

"You most certainly will," Gold said, fastening his jeans as he stalked towards them. "We can talk in the corridor."

Telford didn't back up immediately, though he had at least turned away from Belle. "I want to speak to the both of you."

"And I want you out of this room. I'll most certainly not have you here while my wife dresses. In fact, I'd prefer if you had the decency and manners to wait 'til we opened the door," he sneered.

"We are not required to give notice. You could have been engaged in..." Telford stopped.

Gold looked at him, eyebrow raised, mouth crooked in a half smile that was not the least amused. "Think what we were 'engaged in' is none of your damned business. I'd say when a married couple is behind a closed door, you wait until you're bloody asked." Gold was coming at them at a stalk, urging them toward the door. "Meanwhile, I'll thank you to remove yourselves."

This time they backed up and Gold followed them outside, closing the door behind him.

"Mr Gold, this is..."

"Colonel Telford. You said. I assume he is...occupying Colonel Young in the same way Dr. Rush is currently occupying my body." He addressed himself to Scott rather than Telford, giving the man a cold, appraising look.

"I have some questions..." Telford said, but Gold interrupted. He knew exactly what Rush thought of Telford, it was considerably less flattering than what he thought of Young and that took work. He also knew what kind of man the colonel was, and he had no intention of playing his game, at least not by his rules. Rumplestiltskin had been playing men like him for centuries. "I've answered all of Colonel Young's questions as has my wife, already. He was satisfied with the answers, and as this is his command, I am not obliged to go over it all again just to satisfy your curiosity."

"Colonel Young isn't here. Right now, I am in command and I am not satisfied with your answers. You can either do as requested, and come with me voluntarily, or I can do it involuntarily. I will lock the two of you in separate quarters and interrogate you until I like the answers."

"And how exactly are ye plannin' to do that?" Gold asked, his accent deepening. He adjusted his stance in the doorway, and Scott couldn't believe how badly the situation had deteriorated or how he was going to fix it.

"Colonel Telford, I don't think that..." he said. It was exactly the nightmare he had forseen. All it needed was him to insult the man's wife.

"By force if necessary," the Colonel said, sizing him up.

That Telford had wanted to take a swing at Rush was no secret, or that Rush would be just as glad to swing back. Hell, Scott, Greer, and James had a betting pool going on it. Greer had opined that if Telford got in the first punch he might have a chance, but Rush was a scrapper, faster than expected, and besides, he fought dirty, the kind of street fighting they didn't teach in basic. But that was Rush. Scott reviewed the material, Gold had a similar background, and there was something glittering in the back of his eyes that wasn't there with Rush, something that said he was more dangerous.

Gold leaned in just a little. "Ye think so do ye? I wasn't always as I am. I was fightin' in gutters for scraps while you were still pissing ye'reself. You can have a go, but you'll not enjoy it, and when all is said and done, and we're both back on Earth, I'll file charges enough 'til the military finds it cheaper and more expedient to cut you loose. Then I will sue you. I am not Dr. Rush, make no mistake. I'm not nearly so...nice."

It was into this overcharged atmosphere that the door slid open and Belle stepped out. It was also at that moment that Telford made his mistake, though whether it was an accident they would never know. The man stepped forward as if he was going to get between them.

Scott could only watch like a bystander at an accident. He wasn't exactly certain what happened or what he saw. If Rush was fast, Gold was faster. He moved and a moment later, Col. Telford was on the ground, unconscious.

"Richard..." Belle said, shaking her head.

"Definitely unpleasant."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The confrontation you have all been waiting for. Yes, Rumples set the whole thing up. Thank you, please enjoy, read, review all those fun things.


	34. Who, what and where.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young returns to Destiny, Telford to Earth, and Rush...well, he learns a little about magic with the help of a certain former evil queen. 
> 
> I'm going to put a 'be careful if drinking while reading' warning on this. If your coffee or tea hits the monitor in places...don't say I didn't tell you.

 

"What hit me?" were the first words out of Young's mouth when he returned to himself. His face hurt and his head was pounding. For a brief moment he wondered whether or not Greer had punched him, but he knew it would take a lot for him to do it, knowing that Young would be the one living with the consequences.

"Gold, Sir."

"I'd like to say I'm surprised, but..."

"He was provoked?" Scott said with a bit of a shrug.

"I'm sure. What happened, and why does my head hurt so bad?" the Colonel asked, trying to assess the damage.

"Mr. Gold hit Telford, thenTelford hit the deck. That man is fast, faster than I gave him credit for."

"Packs a helluva punch too. Start at the beginning, Matthew. TJ?"

"I'm already getting you something for your headache," the medic responded.

"Good. So what did...no, let's just start from the beginning. Great, now I'm probably going to have to go back. No doubt Telford's already in General O'Neil's office."  Young ran his hands over his face, only to decide that had been a bad idea.

"Maybe not, Colonel. He was seriously out of line and he had to know it." Scott proceeded to give him the details of Telford's little foray on Destiny.

"He didn't even listen to what we had to say," TJ added. "We tried to explain that pretty much every moment of their lives was accounted for. No one is that good. I mean, who would bother faking photographs of a kid's birthday party or any of the rest. No one is that thorough."

"So he thinks...what? That the two of them are some kind of aliens plotting to take over the SGC from a small town in nowhere Maine? There isn't even an active base near the place. And how?"

"Hey Colonel. How's the head?" Greer asked as he entered the infirmary.

"Been better," Young said. "Thought for a minute that you'd taken another swing at him."

"Can't say I wasn't tempted, but I didn't have to. However, if you're up for it, we've got a little present for you."

"He got it?" Scott asked with a grin.

"Every second of it," the big marine replied. "All we need is the popcorn."

"What..."

"Eli, he caught the whole thing on kino."

"Let's go. I've got to see this," Young said, sliding gingerly off the table.

The four of them trailed along to the corner of the ship that Eli had commandeered as his combination home and workspace. "Hey guys," he said as they all came in. "Want to see the whole thing or should I just cue it up to the good part? Well, not that it's good for you, sir. I mean..."

"Yes, Eli, I know what you mean, Let's get on with it."

Eli turned to his control panel. "I even got most of the stuff inside their quarters since you left the door open. You can't really see Belle, and that is more of Rush...er, Rush's body than I needed to see. Who knew he had a tattoo?"

"Me?" TJ replied, but was ignored.

They all gathered around and watched the entire thing from the moment they arrived at the door right through Telford's sudden encounter with the floor. "Can we see that last bit again?" Greer asked. "Boom, that's a hell of a punch. Nice!" he said appreciatively.

"Anyway, we've got a complete record of what happened," Eli told them.

"Yeah, if Telford decides he wants to start something, we can bring General O'Neil up here. He won't be pleased, he hates the stones for a start. Especially if Gold does actually follow through with his threat, and I wouldn't really blame him. O'Neil doesn't like anyone putting the program in jeopardy. Maybe I can convince him that if we keep Telford away from him, then he won't take action." Young said, shaking his head before deciding not to do that again, at least not 'til the pounding stopped. "I know one thing for sure," he told them. "It's a good thing for my face that she wasn't there too, or I wouldn't have a good side."

They all laughed. "Colonel," Eli said, handing him a USB. "I made you a copy. Thought...you know." The young man grinned.

"What I want to know is, who won the bet?"

"That's up for debate, if you want to weigh in, Sir," Greer drawled. "We're arguing over whether or not it counts if it wasn't Rush at the time."

 

David Telford splashed cold water on his face and looked in the mirror. There was no pain, no bruise, but the memory lingered. It was Everett's problem now though. _Serves him right for that time he attacked me just after they went through to Destiny,_ he thought.

 

 He'd come to in the infirmary with TJ applying a cold pack to his face. That man punched like a truck, especially for a skinny old guy. Though he tried to convince himself that it was his head hitting the deck that rendered him unconscious. Telford had tried to get up, but the medic had refused.

"Think you've done enough to Colonel Young's body for one trip. I can't sedate you because of the potential concussion, but I can and will get a couple of marines down here to put you in restraints if I have to," she told him.

"You wouldn't, I'm your superior..."

"And I'm responsible for the health and well being of this crew, including that body you are occupying. I am also well within my rights as chief medical officer if you refuse to act on medical instructions."

He'd known she would do it too. Probably get Greer, the big guy would volunteer, hell, he'd pay for the privilege. Instead he'd subsided to think. He'd asked after Lieutenant Scott, but TJ told him that he was busy trying to convince Gold not to press charges. It hadn't been very long after that he had found himself back into his own body on Earth.

 

He left the bathroom and fell into his office chair. Telford knew one thing, whoever or whatever was in Rush's body was no stranger to a fight. Not that Rush was. He'd read the Scottish scientist's file and while he'd never been to Glasgow, he had been able to glean enough to know that he was from whatever the equivalent of the 'wrong side of the tracks' was.

Now he needed to figure out what to do. He looked at the files for Mr. and Mrs. Gold sitting on his desk, and opened them. The resemblance was close enough to be creepy. Richard Gold was, according to the file, from Glasgow, no surprise, though according to the file and his quick perusal of Google maps, not the same part of the city. University on scholarship, just like the physicist, but there it ended. They had both gone to University and post graduate studies, but at none of the same ones. Gold was a couple of years older than the physicist as well. Telford continued to read.

As much as he hated to admit it, when he finished, TJ was right. There was just too much background to make it easy to fake. But that didn't really mean anything, he told himself. In his gut, he knew something wasn't right. He needed more information. It just didn't make sense. Telford considered the possibility that they had been replaced or maybe turned into something? But from what TJ said, they were too well accounted for. It could be the whole town, it wouldn't be the first time that had happened. The one thing he knew, it wasn't the Lucian Alliance, or not that they'd admitted to him. Besides, whatever happened, it had to have been an accident, and they were _not_ forgiving of accidents.

Telford just couldn't accept that it was as simple as they made it out. He couldn't afford to, if he was honest. He'd been pushing the man, and he knew it. Of course, he could excuse at least some of it as an interrogation technique, which it was, he just didn't have a reason to be interrogating them. David had certainly never expected the man to punch him though. Not that he didn't know that if it had been Rush, he would have. The irritating physicist had wanted to take a swing at him for years, almost since the day they met.

All this speculation was giving him a headache on par with the one that he'd left Young. Then there was the knowledge that if he was wrong, and Gold was who he said, Telford had a problem and a big one. He doubted the man could actually sue, especially since every part of the program was beyond top secret. But it didn't mean that the lawyer couldn't make trouble for him. Jack O'Neil could be very unforgiving of problems that came with bureaucracy, politics, and paperwork and those who caused him to have to deal with any and all. Not to mention his other friends, who would be equally as forgiving, if he stopped being useful. Perhaps there was a way, he thought, as an idea came to him. He grinned and picked up the phone.

"Yeah, this is Telford, I need to get approval for emergency leave...Yes, it's a family thing." The colonel was going to get to the bottom of this and he knew just where to start. He was going to Storybrooke.

 

Nicholas Rush was tired in a way he couldn't remember being since those first frantic days aboard Destiny. Regina had arrived along with Emma Swan that morning. The sheriff was carrying a takeaway bag containing what was, to his mind, the biggest breakfast he'd ever seen.

"What am I meant to be doing with this?" he asked. "I thought you were teaching me to control this magic, not cut wood."

"Trust me," the sheriff said. "I'd eat all of it, if I were you."

"Or not," Regina added. "Then when you collapse, I can say 'I told you so', either way works for me. Just because it isn't physical, doesn't mean it doesn't take energy. In your case, you have the magic, but controlling it..."

Now he was exhausted, not to mention hungry and dirty. His leg ached in a near constant reminder of how much this was _not_ his body and Rush just wanted to fall down.

Then there had been the lesson. Calling on the magic wasn't the problem. Apparently Rumplestiltskin was so accustomed to it, that it was natural, like breathing. But Nick wasn't Rumplestiltskin and the magic that came whether he called it or not, was getting to be more of a problem, rather than less. At least Regina had been able to put her hair out, and repair it. But she shouldn't have startled him like that. The less thought about what happened with his morning cigarette, the better, and he was only glad that no one had been around to witness it.

Still, by the time they had returned to the turn of the century monstrosity, ('no magic lessons in or near the house, Rumple would never forgive me'), she had prounounced him unlikely to set fire to, blow up, or transform anything by accident.

"Well, as long as you're conscious." When he had asked her what she meant, the not quite so evil queen had shrugged. "Let us just say, it's probably a good thing you are sleeping alone. I'm certainly not going to volunteer to wake you up in the morning. Get a shower and some rest, not to mention something to eat. Tomorrow, we'll try actually getting you to focus the magic. You are more or less safe, and while focus when sharing and directing energy isn't required, it's a lot easier. This is going to take a lot of energy, we need every advantage we can get."

Now as he made his way slowly up the stairs, he wondered what was coming next and how badly it would hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely encouragement and comments, both here and on Tumblr. I really appreciate it, especially when we have hit a rather tricky part of the story. Hope you are all enjoying. Please continue to comment, it helps, and sometimes makes me look at a scene differently.


	35. Unwelcome guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Telford arrives in Storybrooke, intending to blend in.

David Telford arrived in Storybrooke the next morning. It had been a grueling drive and he had almost gotten lost twice, and only found it after he had missed the road and turned back. He'd found the two lane, more or less county road that took him into town finally. They had been right about the size. He wasn't certain it was even a one horse town, maybe a half a horse. The road he was taking joined up at the edge of town with the unimaginatively named, Main Street.

It was probably what people meant by 'picturesque'. It made Telford distinctly uneasy. You couldn't really hide in a place like this. There were all the things he expected, shops lined Main Street and beyond, on one side, he could just catch a glimpse of the harbour. A woman was walking down the street with a stroller, and people called to each other with familiarity. It was perfect enough to make his teeth itch. _Didn't I read a Stephen King novel that started this way?_ he thought.

There was the sheriff's station, a public library, and what was probably the City Hall, all white and brick, like a picture postcard from another era. He pulled up in front of the diner and found himself a parking space. Food would be a good place to start, and the diner would be a good place to get a discreet look at people.

Telford opened the door on a place that looked like it hadn't changed in the last fifty years. It was about half full, and everyone looked up as he entered. "Welcome to Granny's. Sit anywhere," the young woman with the red streaked hair told him as she flashed past with plates of food in both hands. There was an appraising look in her eyes as she delievered the food to a couple sitting in the window, both blond, holding hands.

"Hey Ruby, can I get a refill?" a gruff looking man in a knit cap called from a seat at the counter between a couple of other men, one of whom looked like he had either the mother of all colds, or a really bad allergy, the other like he was about to fall asleep in his cup. In addition to them, there was anther man at the counter with glasses and a head full of very red hair. The Colonel found himself a booth at the back so he could observe. There was a bland looking blond man in the booth in front of him, reading the paper alone over the remains of his breakfast, who only looked up at him briefly before returning to his reading. Further up in a booth, a man with a very loud vest was sitting across from a young blond girl, probably his daughter.

While he was taking stock of his surroundings, a boy, almost a teen, came through the door with a backpack slung over his shoulder. "Hey, Henry," several people greeted him before he went to join the man and the girl.

"Hot chocolate?" An older woman, probably Granny, asked as she came out of the back and went behind the counter. "Your parents coming in?"

"Nah, they're already working. But school's out so..."

Henry? That was the name of Gold's grandson, probably the same kid. How many Henry's that age could there be?

"Coffee?" the woman who had been called Ruby asked from beside the table, derailing his thoughts. She had a cup in one hand, a pot in the other. He nodded and took a look at the menu. Standard diner fare, as far as he could see. "Back in a minute," she said after filling his cup. Then she was off again, pausing to fill a few cups on the way.

If he thought he could blend in, he'd been seriously mistaken. Actually Telford felt like he had a sign on his forehead flashing 'outsider'. All the way here he had been formulating a plan, actually two of them. The first had been to be John Q Tourist, get a look around discreetly. From where he was sitting, that didn't look like it had even the vaguest of hopes in hell of success. Everyone in the restaurant had noticed him and while they hadn't looked hostile, there had been a certain amount of wariness. The second plan was to pretend to be a friend of Gold's. He had read the man's file and he knew how they played things. They had planned for Rush to stay in Storybrooke and meet with a couple of people, mostly electronically. Gold had a bad leg, and after being in a coma for a while, no one was willing to risk taking him anywhere, so he was holed up in Gold's house. The only people who were to know he wasn't Gold were his son and daughter in law, and seeing how close knit the town was, there was no way he could go out without someone knowing something was wrong. They wouldn't want any friend of his anywhere near Mr. Not-Gold. If he got caught he could just say he was checking up on things. Besides, he did want to see for himself.

"Ready to order?" the waitress asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, just deciding between bacon and sausage," he asked with his best friendly smile.

"They're both made locally, but he's got his own special sausage recipe, if that helps. It's good."

"Then, the sausage it is, with two eggs over and toast. And some more of that coffee."

"All right," she said hurrying off.

"Ruby, can I get a check?" the blond man with the newspaper called as she went past.

"Sure Dr. Whale. Hey Mary Margaret," she said as a woman with short, dark hair came in the door. "Coffee?"

"To go. I'm opening the library for the school children to use since school is out for the day, and end of term projects are due soon. Jefferson, are you ready to chaperone?"

"I've already got these two," the man in the front corner told her. "Ruby?"

"Yeah, got it."

Telford bet she knew everyone in this diner, how they took their coffee and probably everything else. She was a good person to get to know. After all, the diner was probably the center of gossip around here. Miss Ruby wasn't wearing a ring either, so perhaps charm would work.  He kept watching as she handed out checks and most of the place emptied. Only two of the men at the counter remained, the gruff looking one who occasionally seemed to look at him, and the one who was almost asleep.

When Ruby came back with his breakfast, Telford figured it was time to get to know her better. "Enjoy," she said.

"Looks good. Guess that was the morning rush, huh?"

"Last of it, yeah," she said politely. "Just passing through?"

"That obvious?" He smiled back.

"Well, we don't get a lot of strangers, especially at this time of year. We're past most of the bad weather, but sometimes there is a late season storm, and they can be brutal. Tourists are more a summer and fall occurrence. Besides, you don't look much like a tourist."

"Not really, no. I had some time off and I needed to get away, do some thinking. I'm David," he said stretching his hand out.

"Ruby. So you looking to stay or..."

"I thought I might. I bet you've got good hiking around here."

"Not bad, as long as you stay on the trails, up on the north side of town. How did you find us? Storybrooke's not exactly easy to find."

"A man I used to know said it was a nice, quiet town. In fact, I was planning on looking him up as long as I'm here, it's been a while. Maybe you know him?"

Ruby gave him what he thought might have been a flirtatious smile. "It's a small town. You'd have to be a hermit for me not to know him. And that would be no guarantee. Who?"

"Richard Gold? He owns a small shop..." If his question sparked anything odd, she gave no sign.

"Yeah, I know him..."

"Ruby, stop bothering that customer. Those tables won't clean themselves," the old woman growled from behind the counter. She was glaring at him, though if it was because he was a stranger, or because he was flirting with her granddaughter, he didn't know. Instead of worrying about it, he applied himself to his food. There would be time later, after all, she didn't seem adverse. It was going to be easier than he thought.

 

Emma Swan scrabbled around in the front seat of the car for her phone as it rang. "Hey, Granny," she said looking at the caller ID. "What's up? Has Rush's..."

"Listen, there's a stranger in the diner," the old woman said, quietly.

"Okay, it happens occasionally, now that we aren't cut off. But what all..."

"Ruby struck up a conversation with him. He told her that Richard Gold told him about this place."

"On my way," she said, dropping the phone into the passenger seat and putting the Bug in reverse. She wasn't certain who this guy was, but he had definitely tripped Storybrooke's 'who the fuck are you' defense system. She thought about calling Bae, or Regina, briefly but she could do that as soon as she knew who he was, and what he wanted. The last thing they needed was a stranger in town now, especially one who claimed he knew Gold, which he couldn't. The only person who called the man Richard, was Belle, and then only if there were strangers around. There were two possibilities that stood out, either it was the missing and mysterious attacker in the woods, though how they would know his cursed name was another question. Or it could be someone else from the Air Force, poking around to make sure that everything that was a secret, stayed a secret. Of course, there was the third possibility, that it was someone looking for another Richard Gold, but she didn't give that one a high probability.

 

When she walked into the diner, she saw him, sitting...actually in Belle and Gold's favourite booth, flirting with Ruby. Of course, Ruby was flirting back, when didn't she? But this was in a good cause. Leroy and Walter were sitting at the counter trying to look like they weren't watching, or rather, Leroy was. Walter, known as Sleepy in the Enchanted Forest, had dozed off again.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey Sheriff," Leroy said. It was deliberate, he almost never called her sheriff. "Hey Granny, can we get the bill? Come on Walter, we're gonna be late." He elbowed his brother, and settled up, having done his duty.

"Hey Emma, coffee?" Ruby said.

"Yeah, give me one to go, and a muffin if there are any left."

"Coming up. Oh, this is David, our Sheriff, Emma Swan. Be back in a minute. Emma, he's interested in the hiking."

"She already told you to stay on the trails, right, and on the North side of town?" she asked, leaning forward to shake his proffered hand.

"Yes, she didn't say why though. If it's because it's challenging, then..."

"You don't want that kind of challenge, believe me. That whole area is part of an old mining system and not real stable. We had a collapse a couple of years ago. The mine system is really old and we don't have good maps, so do us both a favour," she said. "Don't want us to have to come get you out of a hole."

"I'll be sure to remember that. Thank you."

"You staying for a while?" Emma asked.

"I thought a couple of days, maybe more. You know, peace, fresh air, exercise, that kind of thing."

"Well, we've got all that," she agreed.

"And this food," he remarked.

"Don't miss the meatloaf, or the lasagna," Emma advised.

"Hey Em, David said he know Mr. Gold. Emma's his daughter in law."

"Yes, is Rich around? I'd like to see him. It's been a while," Telford said, flashing his best smile.

"Not my day to watch him. He might be at his shop, if not, I don't know. He doesn't check his schedule with me," the sheriff said with an apparently unconcerned shrug. At that moment, Ruby called her, and she got her order, paid, and left.

The moment she was out the door, Emma grabbed her phone. That guy wasn't right, that was for damn sure. They needed to plan. But first she texted Ruby.

_Keep an eye on him_

_Both of them,_ the wolf girl sent back. 

Inside the diner, Ruby checked her phone before turning back to him. "So, if you are going to stay, I guess you'll be needing a room," she said with a flirtatious smile. "Then, how about a native guide?"

"I'd like that," he replied. "I'd like that a lot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the lovely comments. There will be more fun with Telford, this was just a bit of set up, I promise. If you have any suggestions about what he might enjoy, feel free to let me know. After all, we want him to have a good time. Oh any guesses on who all is in the diner when he comes in? I named some of them. Comments keep the muse happy, and mine has been very happy, please keep feeding her.


	36. Introducing Storybrooke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Ruby shows Telford Storybrooke (the boring side), planning goes on behind the scenes.

After a quick check of where Regina and Rush were, Emma got back in the Bug and hurried to the house. Ruby had the guy, and it looked like he wasn't interested in ditching her any time soon. Granny had probably called her parents two minutes after calling her. That left Bae, and she would call him when she arrived.

The Bug braked to a stop outside the house. Regina's Mercedes was in the driveway behind Gold's Cadillac and behind that was a pickup truck that she was pretty sure was Dove's. If she had to guess, Leroy had called him. Emma jumped out and hurried to the back door with her coffee and muffin. Just because it was a cover was no reason to waste it.

"So, what's the emergency?" Regina asked as she came through the door. "Dove says there is a stranger in town, but that doesn't have to mean anything." She was leaning against the counter looking relaxed and drinking coffee. Dove was there also, standing quietly in the corner, saying nothing as usual. Rush was sitting in Gold's usual chair, also drinking coffee.

"Just a second," she said, dialing a number from memory and putting the phone on speaker before setting it on the counter. "I don't want to have to explain more than once."

"Hey, sweet..."

"You're on speaker, Cassidy," Emma warned.

"What's up? The guy at the diner?" Bae asked.

"See the grapevine is humming at full capacity. Who told you?"

"Jefferson called."

"Not surprised, by this time I bet the whole town knows, or at least most of them."

"Maleficent might not know yet," Regina responded with a smirk.

"You want to go tell the dragon, be my guest. Last time I went down there, she almost scorched my ass. By the way, is someone planning on turning her back into her human form any time soon?" Emma asked. It was irrelevant to the current situation, at least she hoped it was, but she kept forgetting to ask.

"A proper dragon, fire breathing and all that?" was Rush's startled question.

"Long story. Don't worry, we weren't planning an introduction. As for the other, not mine to do, sheriff. You'd have to talk to Rumple, it's his magic that keeps her from shifting, and he can hold a grudge for a very long time, but..."

"Yeah, can we hurry. I've got to go deal with a broken window in Archie's office," Bae said.

"Sorry. Okay, so everyone knows about the stranger, but here's the part you don't know. He claimed to know Gold." Everyone went quiet, though the significance was lost on the scientist currently occupying his body.

"Is it possible?" Rush asked. "I mean the man has..."

"No, it's not, not unless he's from our world," Regina said, reaching for her coffee cup to take another sip.

"If it was someone from there, he wouldn't even necessarily know his name here. There aren't _that_ many people in this world that, you might say, came over a different way than everyone else. Me, Bae, and Pinnochio pretty much covers it. If they were and they did, they certainly wouldn't have called him Rich."

There was a gasping gurgle followed by an explosive spray of coffee, followed by coughing as Regina tried to breathe, comment and drink coffee at the same time. "Not...don't...." Regina tried to speak. Emma gave her a couple of none too gentle pats on the back. "He what?" she said, finally getting some control. "And you should have warned me," she glared at the other woman. "That' s a lot more than a little suspicious. No one has ever called him that. He doesn't do nicknames. I only barely get away with Rumple, and only because he's accustomed to it."

"So what are we thinking?" Bae asked from the phone. "Could it be our misplaced magic user from the woods, maybe got ahold of a phone book, looking to get closer and try again?"

"Could be someone from the Air Force, checking up," Rush offered. "Though I don't know why, or possibly the IGA, I'm not sure who is and isn't in the know about this. As few as possible, I'd wager. There is a certain amount of politics involved. If they saw a memo, or something..." He shrugged. "They could be sniffing around."

"Yeah, those were my two bets, leaning heavily on the second," Emma said.

"What's the plan?" Bae asked.

"Well, I think you need to keep a low profile, like subterranean. Can you call your friend and have them come straight here? He's taking a room at Granny's."

"Can. If he's anything to do with the program, he'll recognise Mandi." Rush filled in. "But how are we going to get her..." he gestured towards the back porch.

"Dove, am I right in thinking you're here to keep an eye on your boss?" Emma asked. The big man nodded. He didn't talk much. "Can you knock together a wheelchair ramp for the back?"

"Couple of hours," he said.

"Okay, Rush, tell them...tell them to call when they make the turn. I'll get my father to meet them at the old town line. They can follow him here the back way."

"If he makes the shop, I'll feed him the party line, Papa's still recovering from his head injury."

"You always could spin a line, Cassidy," Emma told him fondly. "If they do come in, try to get a picture, maybe Rush can identify him."

"We can call Blue, get one of the fairies to check him for magick," Regina added. "But you said they."

"You didn't think he was going around by himself did you? He was flirting with Ruby when I left, and she was letting him. I think she's going to offer to play tour guide."

"Well, if he gets to be too much trouble, she can always turn and eat him later tonight," Regina said.

 

David Telford had gotten checked in and Ruby had shown him to a room. "Best one in the house," she said. "You can see the ocean from here." She opened the curtains to show him. "Get yourself settled. I'll be done in a little bit, come on down."

"Are you sure it's okay? I mean, your grandmother didn't look thrilled."

"Don't worry about her, she's just old fashioned. She doesn't like it when I pay attention to the handsome customers," she said with a smile. "Leave her to me."

Telford watched her go with a smile of his own. This was going to be easier than he expected. If anything unusual was happening, she'd know, and if she was a part of it, he could deal with that too. He threw his bag on the bed, and opened it. Inside there was a pistol, among other things. He slipped on a special holster, and slid the pistol in. _Fortunately, it's still jacket weather here_ , he thought as he balanced the pistol with a zat that he had 'mislaid' when he was on his last undercover assignment. After all, you never knew when it would come in handy. He added a hunting knife to the back of his belt and went down.

A half hour later, they were walking down Main Street. "Where do you want to start?" Ruby asked. She'd put on a red leather jacket over her tee shirt and jeans tight enough for him to appreciate her legs.

"Why don't you tell me? Except for going to see..."

"Yeah, about that, Gold's shop is open until 7:00 tonight. But later might be better, he's been...Well, I probably shouldn't say anything."

"It's not gossiping to a friend, now is it?" he said, putting on the sympathy.

"Have you talked to him lately?" Ruby asked, playing the game. She still wasn't sure what it was, but she knew one thing. She could smell gun oil on him, which meant either he had cleaned a gun recently, or he was armed. Meanwhile, she wanted to get him away from the center of town for now.

"No," he told her. "We kind of lost touch. I heard that he and Belle had gotten married, but that's really the last I heard." He followed after her.

"You know Belle, then? She's one of my best friends."

"Not know her, we've met," Telford said.

"Then you don't know what's happened," Ruby said, lowering her voice, though no one was actually near them. "They were attacked or something when they were taking a walk. Belle was kidnapped or at least the sheriff thinks that's what happened. Gold had a serious head injury. He was in a coma for a while. He's still recovering, but with Belle missing..." she shook her head gravely.

"Oh, that's awful," he said, reaching out to pat her arm in sympathy. "I guess I didn't pick the best time to visit."

"Maybe, maybe not. If Gold's not in, Bae can tell you. Seeing an old friend might help," she told him.

"That sounds like a good idea. Meanwhile, I'd like to make a new friend, Tell me about yourself."

Inside, Ruby rolled her eyes. Really, that was his line? "What's to tell?" she said. "I live here, work at the diner, help with the B and B, pretty much covers it."

"Have you lived here all your life?" he asked.

"Yeah. My parents were killed in an accident, so Granny raised me. I was going to go away for college, get a degree in hospitality, but she had a heart attack. It's okay, I mean I'm getting first hand experience, right? Not like I haven't been working there all my life."

"I bet you know everything about this town then," he said.

 _Here it comes_ , she thought. "I guess," she said with a shrug, waving as they walked past a couple of kids with backpacks.

"Those kids?" he asked.

"The Tillman kids, their dad runs the garage, probably headed to the library while Mary Margaret has it open."

"Let's see how good you are. Who was in the diner when I came in this morning?"

"What, you writing an article on Storybrooke? You don't look like a reporter," she joked.

"I'm not, just naturally curious. I'm a city boy, so this whole 'know all your neighbours' thing is new to me."

"Didn't figure you for a newspaper type. Not that I know would know what that looks like. We only have one newspaper in town, and one reporter. I think Sidney got his sense of style from those old movies, you know? He even owns a trench coat. But okay, I'll play. When you came in....Hmmmm. Front window, Kathryn and Jim. He works at the garage, and teaches football at the school part time, she's studying law. They come in for a breakfast date a couple times a week because she's commuting for school. At the counter, Walter, Tom, and Leroy, they're brothers. Walter runs the hardware store, and Tom is the pharmacist, runs the drugstore."

"Was he the one with the cold?" David asked her. Clearly he was paying attention.

"It's not a cold. He's allergic to _everything_ , if it's not the pollen, it's the mold. Can't catch a break."

"Poor guy. That's got to be awful. But I guess he doesn't have to worry about running out of kleenex."

Ruby giggled at his attempted joke. "No, I guess that's the upside. Now, let's see, who else? Archie Hopper, town psychologist, he was also at the counter. Then there was Doctor Whale, he's the chief of medicine at Storybrooke General. That leaves Jefferson and his daughter Grace, and Emma's son Henry."

"Oh, so that's..."

"Yeah, Gold's grandson. They were going to the library. With Belle gone, Mary Margaret, she came in too. Anyway, she's a teacher at the school. She's been opening the library when she can, to at least give the kids access."

"That's right, I remember that Belle's the head librarian."

"Belle's the only librarian. The town doesn't really have the funds for more than one, and between you and me, I think that if it weren't for her being able to take the small salary, we wouldn't be able to have one at all. We didn't for a while, but that was before she came back. She would do it for free, just for the love, but not only is it not allowed, I think Gold would object. He's on the town council of course. And this is the harbour," she told him, spreading her arms to encompass the space, the park, the boats tied up at the dock. It was at that moment that she realised the Jolly Roger was tied up to the dock. She cursed silently to herself and hoped he didn't see it, or that Hook knew what was going on, and was elsewhere.

"What's that?" he asked, right on time.

"Oh, that. Replica pirate ship," she replied, trying to keep her expression under control and making it up as fast as she could. "The owner is an Irishman named Jones. He winters here, has for a few years. He'll be leaving soon. He does educational programs, you know, the 'real pirate experience', that kind of thing."

"Problem?" David asked.

"Nah, Killian and I just don't get along really. He's a little too full of himself," she said. "Now, there's the dockside fish market. We don't have a big fishing business like we used to. The cannery's been closed since I was a kid. But we still have some. Let's see, that's Erik, the boat with the blue paint job. It's called "Mermaid's Song". He fishs, his dad runs the market. And here ends the tour of the harbour," she said. "Where to now?"

"Would now be a good time to go to the shop? That way, if Rich isn't up for a visit, maybe I could...take you to dinner? As long as your grandmother doesn't mind."

 _And pump me for more information_ , Ruby added. But aloud, she said "I'd like that."

 

At the town line, David Nolan stepped out of his pickup truck to greet the woman behind the wheel of the large van.

"Hi, I'm David. I've come to guide you. These roads can be complicated," he said, offering his hand.

"Mary. Dr. Perry is in the back. Thank's for the help, though I'm sure we could have managed. I understand that the plans have changed?"

"Yes, you will be staying at Mr. Gold's house, instead of the B & B."

"Can you tell me why? I'd like to have been able to make arrangements."

"Sorry, no idea. I just got a call from Emma. She said a friend was coming to town, and could I come out and play welcome wagon, get you there fast and safely. Ready?"

"Yes, and if I'm ready to get out of here, I know Amanda is even more ready."

"Okay. Follow me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone who is reading. Some of this is filler, but there are one or two important bits. I'm afraid the bad news is I'm going out of town for a couple of days, so updates may be slow. Or not, it really depends. Regardless, please read, comment and all those lovely things.


	37. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amanda joins Rush, while Telford continues to sniff around.

 

Rush stood at the top of the hastily constructed ramp and waited. He wanted to pace but found it difficult to manage. He had put on the suit this morning, but had left off the tie, and he'd not bothered to shave. When the sheriff had questioned him, he'd reminded her that no one was going to see him who didn't know he wasn't Gold and besides, Amanda Perry was accustomed to this look. With the strange person poking around the town, he wasn't exactly going to leave the house.

Now he was waiting. It was not something he had ever done well, he didn't have the patience . He was also a little nervous, something he had never been where Mandi was concerned. She had been student, colleague, and friend. More than that, she had been there for him when Gloria died, his shoulder to cry on. He'd honestly never considered more, not because of her handicap, though it would have been difficult, but because he wasn't considering anyone, thought he wouldn't ever again. With Gloria's death he'd put all thoughts of love or even sex away in a box and locked them away in a disused lumber room in the back of his mind, focusing entirely and only on work.

Then had come Belle and Rumplestiltskin, their love so bright and sharp that it hurt, brought back all he had lost. Rush had wanted to hate them for it, but he couldn't, because it also reminded him of what it was to feel. For the first time in a very long time, he wanted to touch and to be touched, but that was a hopeless desire aboard Destiny. Now this chance and the surety of exactly how right it was. Obvious, really. If Mandi wanted it. If she felt the way he did about the work, and maybe if she still felt that way about him...still, that didn't matter. Even if she didn't want him, she was bound to want the chance to work on Destiny, and the chance to have her body back. The rest, well, that they could sort in time.

There was the sound of a vehicle pulling into the driveway and he took a deep breath. Regina had been kind enough, or something, to make herself scarce when David had called, citing some errands that needed running. Dove, the almost silent...whatever he was, he was around doing something that presumably needed doing. The van pulled in slowly to the space that had been made for them. The fairy tale Prince pulled in behind them, and jumped out.

"All good?" he asked, taking in the ramp while the doors of the van opened.

"We'll be fine," Rush said, resisting snapping at the man in his nervousness. "Thank you." The dismissal was clear and the man was smart enough to understand that he needed privacy for this.

He turned as the hydraulic motor began its hum, and there she was, Mandi. There was a smile on her face that changed to one of confusion as she looked at him. Dr. Perry, of course, had the necessary clearances to know of both the plight of the Destiny, and the stones, so he didn't particularly blame her for her surprise.

"Mandi," he greeted her from the porch, deciding that to go down to her would be a bad idea. Instead he waited impatiently as they maneuvered her up onto the porch. Then he bent and carefully kissed her cheek. "And you Mary, how are you?" he greeted the woman who had been helping her for at least half the time they had known each other.

"Fine, Dr. Rush," she replied.

"Nick, I thought you were on Destiny and what..." Amanda started.

"I'll explain it all, I promise. But first, let us get inside." At that moment, Dove appeared around the side of the house. "This is Dove, he works...well, that is part of the story. Mary, can you tell him about anything that we might need so that he can go to the store?"

"Are you..." she asked.

"Please, I need to speak to Dr. Perry alone for a bit. I've not forgotten the brief," he said. Mary was a nice enough woman, but this was something that needed doing alone.

 

The bell over the shop door tinkled gently as they entered. A voice called out to them from the other side of a curtain at the back of the room. "Just a moment."

"No hurry, Neal," Ruby called.

"So this is the shop?" David asked, looking around. It was a very eclectic collection: books, jewelry, toys, and things he could not entirely identify. Right in the middle were two of the ugliest dolls, or possibly puppets sitting on the top of the display, looking almost as if they were following them with their eyes. David reached out to touch them.

"I wouldn't do that," a voice said from behind, startling him. "They might bite." Telford looked at him.

"Sorry if I startled you," the young man said. "I'm Neal, you interested in them?"

"Honestly, they are..."

"The ugliest thing you have ever seen? They've been here forever. I used to believe they were real people who had been cursed." Ruby looked at the guy and something passed between them, probably her warning him not to tease.

"They certainly look like it. Either that or something from a horror movie."

"Yeah, that too. I'm Neal, what can I do for you?" he asked, holding out a hand.

"This is David. He's visiting. He knows your dad," Ruby told him.

"Yes, Ruby told me there had been some trouble. She thought I should come by here and see how things were going. Besides, I admit, I wanted to see the place," Telford said with a smile.

"I'm sure Ruby filled you in, then. He's getting better, but he's not up to coming in, as you can see," Neal gestured around the room filled with things, but no other people. "Are you going to be around a few days? Maybe by then he will be feeling better." It was the answer Telford would expect, especially with Gold, but still, something about this town and these people that set his teeth on edge even if he couldn't put his finger on it.

"I thought I would. I need a little peace and quiet, you know, get away from it all," he told her.

"I do know. I came back here from New York City. You enjoy yourself, maybe stop by, or I can have him call you. Does he have your number?"

It was an innocuous question, but it made Telford tense. He could say 'yes' and count on them playing at Gold being there, or he could give them the name and number, which Rush would most certainly recognise. He still wanted to do some looking around and he wasn't quite ready to get caught out. "I'm sure he does," David said smoothly. "If not, it's not hard to find me."

"It's Storybrooke, it's not hard to find anyone. Be sure to check out the fishing," Neal said as he waved the two of them out. Telford started planning.

 

"Amanda," he said, when they were alone. He'd chosen Gold's office as the room was comfortable.

"Nick, how are you here?" she asked as she looked around the room. Her eyes fell almost immediately on a picture, prominently displayed, one of Gold and Belle on their wedding day. In that moment, the look in her eyes, he knew that the old sorcerer was not only not wrong, but that she still had at least some feeling for him. He wanted to smile, but first he had a lot of explaining to do.

"I'm not here. As much as it looks like me, even sounds like me, my body is on an Ancient starship on the far side of another galaxy," he told her.

"But how and why? I mean they talk about everyone having a double but..." she said suspiciously, as if he were having her on, though he wasn't known for his practical jokes.

He thought for a moment, looking for differences between then that would be easy for her, something that she would know. Of course, there was his, or rather Gold's ankle, mangled and long healed, but he, like Gold or possibly because of Gold, was reluctant to show it to anyone. Then it struck him. "Do you remember, Little Miss Brilliant, that night we were discussing Ancient drive technology with that wanker, Davies?"

"Yes, and don't call me that. I said he wouldn't understand the power distribution equations if I had them tattooed on his forearms so he could read them," Mandi said, clearly confused.

"And I said, at least it'd be an interesting tattoo." He started to unbutton his shirt.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Proving that you've the right man in the wrong body," he said, tugging at the shirt, ignoring her startled look. She'd begged him at the time and he'd given in, rolling up the sleeve of his tee shirt. This time he had no tee shirt, but he slid the expensive dress shirt off his shoulder, wanting to be as quick as he could.

"No lizard," she said.

"No lizard."

"This is amazing, how? Are you related?" the doctor asked.

"Everyone keeps asking me that. I have a theory about that, but that's for another time. Right now, I've something very important to ask you about," Rush said, buttoning his shirt back up, before dropping to a chair next to her, bringing his head level with hers.

"What is it, Nick, you were pretty secretive over the phone. Something to do with the engines?"

"Indirectly. Mandi, how would you like to come to Destiny with me?" he asked, leaning close and putting a hand on her arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. I'm sorry it has been so long, but I am visiting family and stuck in the land of poor internet signal. I hope you all enjoy, please comment, it keeps me writing, and besides, I need it. Family can be...well, family.


	38. Surprises and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush and Mandi discuss possiblities. Telford gets introduced to the Rabbit Hole and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

 

For a moment there was silence. Then, slowly, she looked him in the eye. "You know I would give anything to be with you on Destiny," she said. "It's my dream. But how? The stones aren't permanent that I know of, and even if they were, who would volunteer for this?"

"Mandi, do you trust me?" Rush asked.

"Well of course I do, Nick."

"Then believe me when I say there is a way, if you want it."

"I want it, badly, desperately, but it's not fair. I know you only ever see me, but there are other considerations," she told him, looking at him, begging him to understand.

"What other considerations? Mandi, you are the best in your field. You've _forgotten_ more about those engines than anyone on the ship has ever known. No one is better qualified, and no one deserves it more."

"But even if I could, it's not right, it's not fair to the others. You know I have certain needs, better than anyone, you know that. Even if you've found a way to get the gate working, spending the resources on me is not something anyone is going to authorise, and there is Mary. I can't ask her to take the chance..." Her eyes were sad and Nick reached out to brush away a tear.

"No need. Mandi, it's not just getting you to Destiny. I've... well, found a way not to give you another body, but to give you your own body back."

"How?" she asked, excitement tempered by years of disappointment colouring her voice. "Is it some alien tech that you've found..."

"Not exactly." And then Nicholas Rush began to explain.

Amanda Perry sat stunned. She had known Nicholas Rush for years. He wasn't given to fancy and he most certainly wasn't easily fooled. Which left her with one conclusion, he was telling the truth, at least as he knew it. "Magic? Are you sure there is no scientific explanation?"

"I'm sure there is, but I don't know what it is. There are most certainly races out there that do have what appears to be magic, the Nox, the Ori, even the ascended Ancients, but this," he shrugged.

"It's just so hard to credit. If anyone else had told me what you did, I would think they needed professional help. I feel like I've tumbled headfirst down the rabbit hole."

"I'd not say that too loud 'round here. There is at least one person who's like to offer you a tour. But..." he said, concentrating on everything Regina had taught him and praying that he didn't do something wrong. There was a small *poof* of purple smoke that he'd learn to associate with the magic of his host's body. He'd been trying for a rose, and it was a rose. Perhaps not the best rose ever, but it neither froze nor exploded, which was a good start, especially as all he had to work with was Regina's lessons, and a memory from Gold's past.

Mandi laughed in delight and joy. "Do you really think you can do this?" she asked.

"Me? No. But fortunately there is someone here who can. We can call her now, if you like." Rush was being impatient, he knew that, but the thought of Mandi, a whole Mandi, and all they could accomplish together on Destiny gave him a thrill that was almost sexual. Then there was the rest, the things that he could almost begin to hope for, but didn't want to imagine.

"First, I need to tell Mary. She's been with me a long time. She deserves to know."

 

They found Mary in the kitchen with a returned Regina. "Well, it's about time," the Queen said. "Have you done explained it all? I'd like to call the blue bug and get this over with."

"I see you've met Regina then," he said, addressing his comment to the other woman who was standing at the counter, trying to ignore the byplay.

"Yes, she was telling me that there are some arrangements that need to be made?" the companion responded curiously.

"Is this her?" Mandi asked, maneuvering her chair carefully to the doorway.

"No, but we will take care of it," Rush said, meeting the Queens eye. "Yes?" Regina nodded.

 

"So what about the nightlife here?" David asked as they left the diner after a meal of Granny's famous lasagna.

She had shown him around the town, taken a hike in the woods, and come back to Main Street for dinner. Fortunately, the diner had been relatively busy, and Granny had only glared at the man. She knew what her granddaughter was up to, but being nice to the man would have been suspicious. _He would be a lot of fun_ , Ruby decided, _if he wasn't hiding something_. "For that we have the Rabbit Hole, local dive bar and pool hall. It's either that or walking on the beach?" she suggested.

"Why chose?" he asked with a flirtatious smile. "Drinks first? I'll even give you a game or two of pool. Then a walk on the beach."

"Sounds good. I warn you, I'm good."

"Duly noted. But I'm pretty good myself."

"We'll see," she told him with a laugh before leading him down the street.

The evening was actually going pretty well. Ruby beat him at pool, twice. He plied her with, unknown to him, heavily watered drinks and tried to ply her with questions about the town, the people, and most of all, about the incident with Gold and Belle.

It looked like they were going to end the night with a quiet walk, while she contemplated whether or not to let him kiss her, or anything else. It was a pity he was a lying scumbag, because he was nice, and not bad looking.

"Hey there Red," the very drunk man said as he sidled up to her, or tried to, slipping an arm around her. "I'm feeling like a little walk on the wild side,what do you shay?"

"I say, you're drunk, Keith. Go home and sleep it off," she advised, as she pulled away from him and towards David.

"Awwww, come on. Don't be like that. We could have shummm fun. You don't have to go slumming for the Charmings. I know..." he said, trying to tap his nose wisely and completely missing.

"Is there a problem here?" David asked. "Ruby?"

"It's nothing. Keith's just had a little too much to drink and..."

"Oh, you're the one. Think you've got it alllllllll figured out, don't you? This why you're giving me the brush off. So you can help those assholes with their secrets? Know what he did to me, why should I care?" he snarled, boozy breath almost knocking them both back. "Broke my fucking..."

"Keith, leave the customers alone or I'm calling the sheriff," the barman warned. A couple of the dwarves at the bar were watching and waiting, preparing to act as volunteer bouncers at the least sign that it was warranted.

"What do you know? I could tell a few secrets, tell them all, eh?" he said, leaning forward again. "Pretty isn't she, but watch out, wolf girl's got bite," Keith said, laughing at his own joke.

"Okay Nottingham. You've had enough," Emma Swan said, as she grabbed him from behind. "Sorry about that. He has his days."

"Yeah, most of them," someone from the crowd commented, to the general amusement of bystanders.

"You get your hands off me. Not even the real sheriff, that was my job...should have got it back once it broke. It's hereditary, always been mine, if it weren't for that outlaw....I ought to..." he continued muttering as the sheriff dragged him away.

"Sorry you had to see that. Don't mind him, he's a drunk. Just not usually that stupid."

"What was that all about? Why did he call you wolf girl and what did he mean about hereditary? Was his father the sheriff?"

"Not here, not that I remember. Maybe someplace else. Our last sheriff was Graham. He...he was a friend," she said, just a little sadly. That was at least genuine. No one much liked to talk about him, it hurt too much, reminded them of things they would rather not think about.

"Oh, what happened?" David asked, appearing legitimately concerned.

Ruby shrugged. "He just collapsed one day. They said it was an undiagnosed heart defect. But you aren't here for a trip down amnesia lane. How about that walk on the beach?"

"Sure, but why wolf girl?"

"I collect wolves, actually, everyone in town knows that."

"Oh? And the rest?" David said with a grin.

"We'll see," she said as they walked out.

"Good enough. Now, tell me all about those mines."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sorry this is short, but I am still in family land. Besides, I thought you all would not want to wait any longer for Mandi's answer. Thank you for the comments, keep them coming. 
> 
> Next time-Mandi and the Blue Fairy, meanwhile back on Destiny, and just possibly Telford's curiousity gets him in trouble.


	39. Fixing what is broken.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Amanda Perry meets the Blue Fairy....meanwhile on Destiny.

Despite Rush's impatience, they were unable to start immediately. Regina had made the call, but the damned fairy had insisted that Amanda eat and rest before they began. "She needs to be as strong as possible for this," Regina told him and he agreed. No matter his personal feelings, they had to give the best chance of it working.

So instead of getting busy, Mary had helped Mandi get settled for a rest that everyone knew she wasn't going to be able to get. Her companion had taken everything remarkably well, much better than Rush had when he had first discovered magic. "Mandi, you are like family to me and I will gladly take any chance, no matter how slim, to have you better. I'd dance naked under a full moon with a dead chicken if I thought it would work," she had said.

"That will be unnecessary," Regina had said with a disturbed sigh that Rush read as ' _what are they teaching these people about magic in this world?_ ' After that Regina had left. "I can try to hurry her up, but..." the queen said with a shrug.

Rush retreated to the porch.

Therefore it was quite late when the nun finally made her appearance, with Regina. Emma had been going to join them as well, but had told them to go ahead without her, citing some urgent police business, something about an ex-Sheriff and a potential bar fight that he hadn't understood. He had been too busy. The evening had given him plenty of time to get nervous. He'd tried to leave Mandi to rest, he'd tried sitting on the porch and smoking. He was almost certain that Rumplestiltskin would be able to reverse whatever it was he'd done to that side table, mostly certain, anyway. However magic and nerves were a bad combination.

But finally the nun was there. Regina had brought her and stayed, saying she wanted to make sure that everything went well. Privately he thought she wanted to make certain everything was dealt with according to plan. Despite her barbs, and his own memories from Rumplestiltskin, there was a genuine affection between them. Complicated but deeply caring. Of course neither would ever admit it even under torture. It wasn't particularly his problem either way.

The Mother Superior came into the house with a look of moral superiority and a wand that looked like it had escaped from a bad fantasy movie. "Hello dear, I'm the Blue Fairy," she said introducing herself.

"Like Pinocchio?" Mary asked with a look of incredulity.

"Not my best work, but yes," she said, not the least disturbed.

"Yes, yes, we've done that one, and I really am the Evil Queen. Snow White is most definitely my stepdaughter and yes, she is that annoyingly cheerful. I'll introduce you later. Can we get _on_ with this?" Regina asked.

"Sorry, this is all a lot to take in. I...thank you for even trying,"Mandi said a little awkwardly. Rush put a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, I can do it. The question is, do you _truly_ want it?"

"Oh for God's sake, get on wit' it," Rush growled.

"Are you serious?" Mandi asked. I've been in this chair, a prisoner in my own body, since I was eight. I can't taste, I can't feel most of my body, more importantly, I can't follow my dream. I want to be able to do the work that now I can only theorise about."

"Mandi," Mary warned softly as she watched the monitors.

"Ignore her. It's the way the magic works. You have to actually say it. Ask her for what you want." Regina explained. "Tell her _exactly_ what you want from her."

Dr. Perry nodded and thought for a moment. Rush could see her, the precise scientist he knew so well. She was figuring out exactly how to word it so that it didn't backfire on her.

"I would like to have my body work, the body that I would have had now if I had never been in the car when my parents were killed," she said, looking at Nicholas and smiling. He followed her statement for any holes, but could find none, and the Fairy was smiling in approval.

"Very well," the annoying nun said. "I will need you to remove that...machine."

"Okay," Mandi said, looking at Mary.

"But Mandi, you can't. Without it, you can't breathe. What happens if..."

"We have at least three minutes. It's plenty of time."

"If something goes wrong, I'm going to reconnect you," the black woman said.

"Fine."

"Do it quickly," she said, giving a threatening look to the Blue Fairy. The woman nodded, and Mary carefully disconnected the ventilator.  Immediately alarms began to sound and lights flash, but none were as bright as the light that came from the wand. It reached out and engulfed Amanda, so bright they had to turn away.

Then the light disappeared and Mandi was there. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out and smiled. "I can..." Carefully, she lifted her hand, looking at it as if it was a strange animal that she'd never seen before. "Thank you," she told the nun, as she tried to stand. It took a moment, but she was on her feet, with an arm wrapped around Rush. Mary had turned off the monitors, taking a moment to process what had happened.

"Take your time," the Fairy said. "You are healed, but you are still weak. It will take a few days." Then she left.

Rush couldn't care less, he was holding Mandi, helping her stand gently. Mary went and pulled the chair away, rolling it carefully backward. She appeared to still be in shock, but a big smile and blossomed on her face.

"This is amazing, I want...I want to do something, everything," the young woman said, smiling up at him.

"Why don't we start slowly," he told her.

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but we have two days before the potion is finished, a stranger nosing around, and your training to see to. Get her settled. I'll be back in the morning," Regina said before turning on her heel and making a dramatic exit.

"Well, now that she's seen to, what would you like to do first?" he asked.

"I..." Mandi started, putting one foot carefully in front of the other. "I want to walk," she said.

 

Belle and Gold, well, Rumplestiltskin, had been spending the majority of the day in their quarters, leaving only for meals, but Belle, who had made friends aboard the ship insisted that after dinner they do something else, something other than going straight back to their quarters. As much as he wasn't keen, it was only fair. After all, soon enough they would be home and this would all be a memory.

That was how Colonel Young came to find them, sitting with Eli, Chloe, Matthew, and Ronald in the room that housed Mr. Brody's still and had turned into a makeshift social club.

"It's not half bad," the lawyer was saying. "Well, if you measure it by the standards of some of the private muck that got made where I was born. But Belle, I'd not..."

She didn't listen, but picked up the glass and downed it as she had seen the rest do. Her face flushed, her eyes began to water, and there was a sound that came out of her that might have been more at home from a small furry animal. "Wha....what _exactly_ is that?" she said when she found her voice.

"Well, someone suggested we might try it as an industrial strength solvent," Scott said.

"It's getting better," Eli added.

"Better than what, exactly? Drain cleaner?"

"It has one redeeming feature," Chloe said. "Don't worry, it grows on you."

"After you drink it, nothing else will," Greer added, downing another one. "I'm pretty sure that this stuff protects us from weird alien molds and things."

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can," Brody said, but the engineer took the ribbing good naturally.

"It's getting better," Chloe said kindly.

"Yeah, it no longer melts your fillings," Eli whispered to them.

"I hate to break up the social occasion, but I need to borrow Gold for just a moment," Young said as he approached the table.

"Something the matter, Colonel?" the man asked calmly, though Belle looked concerned.

"Nothing major, just need a minute or two, then you can continue with the festivities. Hell, I might even join you."

Gold nodded, patted Belle gently on the hand and gestured to the Colonel to lead on. The colonel only went as far as the corridor though. "Sorry, just needed a little more quiet than we had in there. Tomorrow we are expecting to drop out of FTL. Theoretically, if everything goes as planned, for just a moment you will be back in your own body."

"And if not?" Gold asked. Not that he was particularly worried about it. In that eventuality they would just have to do the swap another way, still, it wasn't something he could discuss with the Colonel.

"Well, if not we have a much bigger problem. No offense, Gold, but as much as Rush might infuriate me, he is as good as he thinks he is. Without him, this rust bucket probably would have fallen apart or we would have died long ago. A lawyer is just no substitute. Don't tell him I said that, by the way," the Colonel added with a smile.

"Yes, he's not an easy man to love, is he?" Gold said, remembering a time when he had said much the same thing about himself. In some ways they were very alike. Though at least without the history, the Colonel had been relatively mellow with him. He'd not even had to try to turn him into anything.

"Hell, he's not an easy man to _tolerate_ , but he's what we got. But we're pretty good at making do out here," Young said with a smile. "Now, can I buy you a glass of paint thinner?" he asked, as they returned to the party.

 

David Telford sat waiting. He was listening, hoping the sounds in the bed and breakfast would die down soon. He'd gone for a walk with Ruby, given her a kiss goodnight that expressed interest, if not pressing, and asked her when she would be free tomorrow. It was going very well. Now, he just wanted to get out, do a little late night recon.

Slowly, the few sounds died away. The place was almost completely silent except for the faint sound of a distant radio. Now was the time, especially if he wanted to be back in time. He raised the window of his room and carefully let himself out onto the back fire escape. He had checked it before, and with very little effort he could get his hands on the bottom and lift himself back up. Dressed in black with a flashlight, knife, and pistol, he slipped down and dropped to the ground. First stop, the south side of town and the old mines they had warned him against. It was always better to check out the places that people didn't want you to be in. With that thought in mind, Telford took off quietly down the street keeping as close to the shadows as he could.

In the dark, a pair of yellow eyes watched him disappear, before loping off in pursuit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the comments and the love. I am back home now, so hopefully more regular updates will be occuring. In fact, I finished this up in the airport. Enjoy, read, comment, all that kind of thing.


	40. The way down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Telford tries to find out the secret of Storybrooke while Rush and Mandi learn more about the town.

Telford crept through the shadows for about a block before deciding that no one was following him. Actually no one was on the streets at all. Apparently Storybrooke was the kind of town where they rolled up the sidewalks early. The only place with more than a security light on that he could see was the Rabbit Hole, a beacon of light in the dark at the edge of town. The resident dive bar appeared to be going strong, but even there, the number of cars in the parking lot had shrunk.

Now he was nearing the bar and the edge of town, thinking about whether or not this was a colossal waste of time. It could be nothing, it could just be genuine concern for the health and safety of a stranger, or even the desire not to have to risk a rescue or a lawsuit. But he had learned long ago to be suspicious of people's motives. If something strange was going on in Storybrooke, the place everyone was warning him off was the first place to look. Then he would check out the site of the...whatever it was that had happened here. Greer had the coordinates in his report, though as much as it galled him to admit it, the man was generally very thorough. It wouldn't hurt to have a second look around though. Daylight would be better, of course, but it wasn't like there was a good way of suggesting that to Ruby.

She seemed a nice enough young woman, and maybe, once he'd figured out what was going on, or decided that nothing was, not that he held out a lot of hope for that one, he could give some serious consideration to her attention. Actually there was nothing saying he couldn't do both after tonight's recon. She was pretty, friendly, and considering these small town hicks, probably ready for someone more exciting. He could definitely give her that.

He'd passed the Rabbit Hole, the only people visible a couple making out in a car in the parking lot, as least he assumed from the steamed windows that was what they were doing. Still, he was careful as he made his way down the road in the direction that Ruby had indicated. The way she had said it, he gathered it wasn't far, not that anything was in this town, and as he rounded the curve, he saw it. There below the level of the road was an opening that looked like the entrance of pretty much every mine Telford had ever seen, regardless of culture or planet of origin. He methodically passed the beam of his flashlight over every inch of the opening. It was clear that at least part of the story was true. The entrance appeared to have been mostly blocked by a cave in, rocks large and small tumbling out of the mouth of the cave.

David examined it carefully, noting the blockage seemed pretty solid. He had tapped at it in different places, and nothing moved at any rate. Then he noticed that at least some attempt had been made to clear it. Ruby had said something, a cave in, either her or the Sheriff. But no one tries to clear a cave in at an abandoned mine, not unless there is someone or something on the other side to get to. Rather they call it a public service and say prayers of thanks that they don't have to worry about stupid people playing down there.

 _So, why start clearing a blockage if there is nothing to get to? More importantly, why stop?_ he thought. The answer was simple enough, there was another way in. That would be an even better place to hide something suspicious. Telford decided to give himself another half hour and if he didn't find anything, he would either go check out the disappearance site, or possibly do a little discrete breaking and entering at the pawnshop, without the actual breaking part. He'd considered checking out the house as well, but he wasn't ready for Rush to know he was in town, not yet, and assuming it was really Rush.

It took about twenty of his allotted thirty minutes to find the emergency shaft and another five to get the grate off. It wasn't locked down on the one had, but on the other, it was pretty heavy. He bent and examined the immediate area, but it was too rocky to show much and even with the light of the flashlight, it was too dark to make a really through examination, so he turned his attention to the shaft. There was some kind of cable hanging from a kind of pulley rig inside, probably part of an old elevator, but he wouldn't know where to look for the controls, and despite the apparent emptiness of the area, the sound of machinery would carry.

He was just considering whether to try to use the cable, try to free climb it, or possibly go and come back in daylight with rope and more light, when he heard something, a strange sound, like an animal's growl or maybe some kind of machinery, it was too faint to tell. What he was certain of, however, was that it was coming from down the shaft. That decided him. No waiting around, he needed to see what was down there, now.

 

In the darkness at the edge of the forest a fierce internal struggle was going on, unobserved. _The wolf didn't like the human. The wolf didn't like most humans. Humans hunted it, hurt it, and its kin_.

 _You **are** human_ , the other half reminded it. _You walk in both worlds, and you do not hunt humans, not anymore, not unless they attack first._ Ruby usually had no trouble controlling the wolf, not in a long time. But this was different. The wolf sensed her unease and her anger at the stranger who endangered those she cared about and had a very straight forward solution. Still, she struggled against it, silently, alone in the dark. Finally she managed to get herself back under control, just in time to see Telford climb down into the shaft.

Damn, he was going to be that stupid. A pity they couldn't just let Maleficent have him, not without knowing who he was and what he was doing here. _Should have given him to me_ , the wolf grumbled as the great creature turned and ran back to town. She really did need to figure out a way to rig up some kind of pouch for a cell phone, she thought as the wolf satisfied itself by stretching out into a run. Not a chase, but better than nothing. They let out a howl of joy that rang through the empty woods.

 

After locking Nottingham in the jail, Emma Swan had decided to swing by and see how things were going. Regina had texted her, but she was not a product of this world, and while she wasn't the technophobe that Gold was, her texts tended to be notable for their brevity and their limited information. Sometimes, this was a feature, but not today.

The pink house stood pretty quiet, but she could see lights on downstairs so she pulled the Bug up in front. The driveway was full, with both Dove's pickup truck and a large van equipped with a wheelchair lift taking up space behind the Cadillac. She got out and headed for the back door. When she entered the kitchen there was a sort of impromptu party in progress. Rush was sitting next to a very slender woman, very pale, with dark brownish red hair, that could only be Dr. Amanda Perry, to judge by the way the physicist was looking at her. It also struck her that either they were more than just collegues or alternatively, soon would be. Nearby, just sitting down, was an African American woman, perhaps a few years older, though it was hard to tell, with a big smile on her face. She matched her father's description of the companion or helper. The party was rounded out by Dove, looking pretty much the way he usually did, solid, quiet, and rather like he would be more comfortable hiding in a corner.

"Sheriff Swan," Rush greeted her with a smile that she usually only saw on her father in law on occasion, usually involving Belle, or Henry, even Bae. "Mandi, this is the daughter in law of the man...who I am currently occupying. She's been helping us."

"It's nice to meet you," the young woman said, holding out a hand to her. "You have no idea how good it feels to be able to do that." 

"I'm going to take it things worked out okay?"

"Absolutely. Now I'm..." She looked at the table in front of her. There was a cup of tea, a plate of sandwiches left over from the other night, a bar of extremely expensive chocolate that she had suspected Gold kept to distract Belle when she was angry with him (or anyone else for that matter) and some fresh strawberries. "catching up," she said finally.

"And you keep at it. You need a bit of feeding up and the food aboard Destiny will make you wish your tastebuds had died, or possibly kill them off in boredom," he warned.

"Yeah, sorry I missed it, but the former sheriff of Nottingham was drunk and running off at the mouth in front of that stranger."

"The Sheriff of Nottingham? Now I know you're havering," Rush said. "Where is Robin Hood then?"

"I'm nut sure what I'm supposed to be heaving, but Robin's probably sitting up and being worried. His son has an awful case of the 'flu, poor kid. Unless Regina's gone over to help," Emma said without batting an eye.

"You aren't telling me that Regina's Maid Marian?"

"Nope, just the Evil Queen. Marian died before they came here. He and Regina just started dating." The two scientists were looking at each other as if they had fallen into the madhouse when Emma's phone went off.

"Who'd be calling at this time of...morning?" Rush asked.

"Not sure," the sheriff said, fishing for the phone. "Probably business though. Yeah, Ruby," she said. "Shit, you're sure? Goddammit, I was hoping he wasn't that stupid. No hope she's sleeping either, I bet. Okay, call Regina, I'm at Gold's house. We'll be better off if we start at the library and work our way out. I'll meet you there. You can track him, right?" Emma listened and then hung up the phone, still swearing. "Dove, can you find Gold's key to the library?" The big man nodded and disappeared.

"What's happened?" Rush asked, having unconsciously taken Mandi's hand protectively.

"That outsider has done something monumentally stupid. He's gone down into the mines. Normally, I'm of the opinion that stupidity should be painful, if not necessarily fatal, but we have no idea who this David guy is, much less what he's doing here."

"Did you say his name was David?" Rush asked, eyes narrowing. "Black hair, about six foot?" Emma nodded.

'What are you thinking, Nick?"

"I'm thinkin' that it's Telford poking 'round. He'd give anything to be on Destiny and he'd do even more to get to me. Are the mines geologically unstable? I don't suppose I could convince you to let him stay lost down there until this is over?" he asked.

"It's not the geology that's the problem, it's the perpetually pissed off dragon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has kept with this story. I am glad you are all enjoying it. Even though it's winding down, there are still a couple of bumps on the road. Please keep reading and commenting, it keeps me going.


	41. Rescue party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush goes along, and Telford meets the one person in Storybrooke who didn't already know he was there.

In the end, Rush found himself hugging Mandi, encouraging her and Mary to get some sleep, and joining Emma in the Bug. He wasn't entirely certain why he had volunteered, he was not a brave man, or he'd never considered himself one. It most certainly wasn't concern for Telford. He despised the man with a black, bleeding passion, and the feeling was mutual. If anything, him getting eaten by a dragon, (and there was an idea he'd never even thought he'd be contemplating) would make Rush's life easier. Unfortunately he felt some responsibility to Gold, Emma, and Storybrooke in general, and the United States Air Force did not take the disappearance of a ranking officer well, especially not one with as much knowledge of top secret projects and planetary defenses as Telford possessed. Besides, though he would never admit it, he wanted Mandi to think well of him. Convincing the sheriff was a different matter entirely.

"Why should I let you come?" she asked. "In fact, why would you want to?"

"I will admit that I'm having difficulty with the whole magic aspect, but I do have it," he told her.

"Yeah, and you are just as likely to hurt one of us accidentally. Friendly fire isn't. Besides, I gather that you and this Telford aren't exactly on friendly terms, so again, why?"

"Because I may hate the bastard, but I know him, and unfortunately, we need him in one piece. Otherwise, I'd be perfectly content to have your dragon eat him, or use him as a chew toy. Hell, she could keep him as a pet. Any and all of those would keep him out of my hair. Unfortunately, that would lead to an investigation and a town full of people none of you need."

Instead of arguing further, she gestured to the car.

They drove quietly into what qualified as downtown Storybrooke, silent at that hour of the morning, and pulled up in front of a building with a sign proclaiming 'Storybrooke Public Library.'

"Why are we at the library?" he asked, as she turned off the car.

"Tunnels, they lead under the entire town. It is faster and easier to take the elevator to get down there," she said as she got out. It was then that he noticed that they weren't the only people there, an SUV was parked around the corner, and as he atched, the doors opened. Three people emerged and moved into the light.

"What the... Dad?" Emma asked.

"I heard what happened. I figured some help wasn't a bad thing," David said as he fastened a sword belt around his waist as if he'd been doing it all his life, which, if half the things Rush had heard were true, he had.

"Brought you yours too," Bae said, giving her a kiss.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she demanded, but she was strapping the sword on as well, fastening it around her waist under the leather jacket.  As it swung open, he noticed she also carried a sidearm. "Where is Henry?"

"He's with your mother. And I have a vested interest in Papa getting his body back in the same number of pieces he left it in. Just because he's immortal, or close to..." He shrugged, there was nothing else to say.

"This isn't a war party," she said.

"No, apparently it's a rescue mission." Regina said. The woman had appeared from nowhere in a swirl of smoke and Rush was having a little trouble wrapping his mind around it. "What's he doing here?" she asked pointing to the scientist.

"Hey Regina, how's Roland?" Emma enquired. "Sorry to bring you out."

"He's getting better, Robin's with him. Thanks. A better question is why are you bringing out the completely untrained?"

"Thinks he knows who it is, Air Force." There was soft swearing all around.

Ruby stepped out of the shadows. The woman with the red streaked hair was wearing a red cloak...with a hood, and if he were to judge by the feet and length of leg sticking out from underneath, nothing else. "If we are going to deal with this before it gets worse, we'd best get going," she suggested. "He's got a good half hour on us. It's a pretty good ways, assuming he didn't get lost, but since we don't know where she is, that's not as helpful as it could be. I called the hospital, Whale's got the burn unit on standby."

"Thanks, Ruby," she said and fished the keyring she had gotten from Dove out of her jacket pocket.

Bae reached back into the SUV and pulled out a double barreled shotgun. At his look, the young man smiled. "Never learned to weild a sword terribly well, though I'm not bad with a dagger. The shells are loaded with a potion of papa's devising, should freeze her in her tracks."

"Handy," Rush said, limping along beside him.

"We'll see, never had to try them before." Before he could formulate a reply, the door opened and everyone was moving.

 _What the hell was I thinking_? Rush asked himself.

 

 

In the dark tunnel, Major Telford was trying to get his bearings. The climb down hadn't been that bad. He'd done his share of free climbing and the old rock had plenty of hand and foot holds. The only problem of course, was he couldn't see them and had to take his time to feel his way. It wasn't as if he could use his flashlight. Still, he had gotten to the bottom relatively easily. That was when the problems had started. David wasn't sure what the problem was, but when he reached solid ground, he'd pulled out his cell phone with its built in compass. Unfortunately the ground must contain a pretty large concentration of iron, the needle wouldn't settle. After cursing at it, shaking it, and then rebooting the phone entirely, he had given up. He could figure it out, he knew it could.

Looking up the shaft he had just come down, he had a patch of sky, but not really enough to navigate by. Instead, he moved further inside. ' _What the hell was I thinking?'_ he asked himself. The sound had died away, and he wasn't exactly certain which way it had come from. Still, there had to be another way out. If not, he could probably climb back up, if he had to, but that would have to wait 'til daylight. No point in wasting the opportunity. At the bottom of the shaft was a long, dark tunnel, not particularly surprising. At least from the shaft it only seemed to run one way, so he started along it.

He wasn't certain how long he had been walking when he reached the first branch. Telford took a moment, trying to figure out which way he was going. The one way, he was pretty certain led back to the blocked entrance, though when he looked down the tunnel, he thought he saw a faint glow, almost purple in the black. But before he could follow it, there was that sound again. Something...big. He turned towards it and headed in what he vaguely thought was the direction of town.

The sounds were getting louder and more frequent as he continued, and the passage seemed to be sloping downward. Telford knew for a fact that he would have lost track of time, had he not had his phone. Unfortunately it was only as a watch the damn thing was any use. Of course, there was no signal down in the depths of the mine. Still, if his flashlight gave out, it would give him some light. He wiped the sweat out of his face. It had also gotten steadily hotter, which seemed pretty damned odd, especially for a hole in the ground in Maine in that vague time between a brutal winter, and the very short spring. David would have thought he had gotten himself in trouble for no reason, considered this a fool's errand, and gone back the way he'd come, if it weren't for the sounds that he heard. At least he'd had the foresight to mark the passage. If he didn't find another way out, he could go back. It was actually starting to sound like a pretty good idea, go back, maybe get some gear, and come back tomorrow night, when there was another...roar? ' _Surely it can't be machinery,'_ he thought. _'But what kind of animal...'_ Then he turned the corner and his brain shuddered to a halt.

 

The elevator had let them out in a tunnel that was most definitely _not_ a part of the library basement, though Rush was the only one that seemed to notice. "Okay, Ruby, can you track him?" Emma asked.

"I can, but I'm going to have to do this the other way. This place smells too much of dragon," she told her friend.

"All right," Emma replied. Ruby reached for the clasp and Rush started to turn away, politely, startled that she would just... but there was no need. As soon as the cloak slipped from her shoulders, Ruby was no longer...well Ruby. Instead she was a rather large wolf. She gave a toothy, lupine smile and a quiet yip, before starting off down the corridor.

Rush stood frozen. He had seen a lot of things since he and Rumplestiltskin had unwittingly started to share a body, but that was definitely one of the stranger ones.

"It's okay, she's in complete control, and she won't hurt you," David told him, hanging slightly back with the scientist. "You get used to it."

"Don't want to bloody get used to..." he started to say, when they all stopped. Gunshots, lots of gunshots sounded from somewhere up ahead.

"Shit, and here I was hoping he wouldn't have found her. Time to go and make the formal introductions," Emma said, and started to run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for all the lovely comments and suggestions. You will have to wait for the actually confrontation though. Unfortunetaly I have been working on programming for an event that I help run, and we are still putting people into the schedule, so my writing time is limited. Still, I thought you would rather have something. Please, read, comment and all those things. I really appreciate it and it keeps me going. 
> 
> Next Time--Telford formally meets Maleficant.


	42. Barbeque Thwarted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Telford meet Malificant, and almost ends up a crispy critter.

David Telford hid between a boulder and the wall, trying to recover from shock. He had seen a lot of things in his time with the Stargate program, strange aliens, strange creatures, some of which had turned out to, in fact, be the same. But what was even now roaring on the other side of the large rock was a new one. If he didn't know better, he would think it was an actual fire breathing dragon right out of a fantasy movie. It just wasn't possible.

That led him to two possibilities, it was some hitherto unknown species of alien, or he was hallucinating. The pain in his leg where his jeans had caught fire, and burned away, and his still lightly smoking leather jacket made him ready to discount that. His imagination just wasn't that good.

So, as he had been trained to, he assessed the situation as clinically as he could. He was trapped in a mine who knew how deep in the ground with no back up, and little or no chance of rescue, at least not unless someone in town figured out where he'd gone and came looking for him. That also assumed that he could find a place to hide, an actual safe place, as he could hear the creature roar and occasionally flames licked around the rock as it figured out how to get to over, or around to him. His .9 mm was empty and had no made no noticeable impact, and the zat, well that just seemed to irritate it further. In fact, it was responsible for the burns that he even now was too afraid to look at. David knew he wouldn't be trying that again soon. The little .38 had less even less chance, so he left it in the holster and wondered idly if enough heat to cook off the ammo would also be enough to kill him first.

He tried to peer around only to almost be struck by a large, clawed foot that came down the side of the boulder away from the cave wall. It was trying to dig him out. He knew he had to move and move soon, if he was going to live. Long ago, Telford had accepted that he was probably going to die alone in a strange place. He'd always expected it to be on a strange planet though, or possibly in a starship, maybe piloting an F-302 into battle, not in a disused hole in the ground in the backwoods of Maine.

Gathering his courage, or at least his survival instinct, he got carefully into a crouch, ignoring the pain from his right leg and tried to figure out where to run. But even as he gathered himself, he heard what sounded like...a wolf howling? Telford stopped and so did the...whatever it was, he refused to call it a dragon. Both of them turned towards the sound that was completely out of place. Since the creature heard it too, he was at least sure it wasn't a hallucination.

Standing in an opening about forty yards from where he was crouched stood the biggest dog (or wolf, he really wasn't in a position to speculate) he'd ever seen. And it wasn't alone. Next to it stood the sheriff with her blond hair and leather jacket, and carrying a...sword? It wasn't getting any less weird, he was starting to reconsider the hallucination theory when a dark haired woman stepped out of the shadows as well. She was wearing fitted black trousers and knee high boots and looking like a fashion designer's idea of the horsey set. Behind her, also emerging slowly from the cave, two men he didn't recognize and one he did, Nicholas Rush.

"Mal," the dark haired woman said, apparently addressing the creature. "I know that you are angry, you have every right to be." Okay, she seemed to be placating the creature, as if it could understand her. There was a sound, like a grumbly roar and a puff of smoke from it, almost as if it was answering.

Telford started to take the opportunity to creep out of his hiding place, but it swung around and sent another gout of flame towards him, and he ducked, this time barely missing getting his arm barbecued. _If I get out of this, this jacket is never going to be the same_ , he thought irrelevantly as he beat it against his side to make sure it was out.

"The savior is not here to attack you again," she told it, waving for the sheriff to lower her sword. He was completely uncertain what she meant, the only savior he was familiar with was from Mass that he never attended anymore, but as he was already confused, and not certain exactly what was going on, he just waited. "We need that man alive."

This time the answer was a small tongue of flame, just licking around its mouth.

"Because, if he dies, more strangers will come looking for him. You know I'd usually be perfectly fine with you roasting him like a boar for feast, but we can't." She turned to the sheriff. "Promise her," she hissed sternly.

"I didn't come here for a fight. I will, but only if I have to. If you help us, I promise I..."

Suddenly the creature erupted, having seen something in apparently didn't like. The women did something, and the fire went around like a goa'uld force shield. "It's _not_ him, Mal," she shouted over the sound of growling and the hiss of the flames. "It looks like him, actually it's Rumplestiltskin's body, but it's not him in it. That's why we need that one. Without him, we might never get the imp back."

There was a louder growl and a roar, this time.

"Rush, come here," she said.

"Ye want me to wha'?" he asked, his voice rising slightly.

"She may not be able to use it, but she is still a creature of magic. Show her you aren't Rumplestiltskin."

"How?" he asked, limping warily forward. "You want me to accidentally turn her into something, or is one of you volunteering?"

"Just let her see you. Mal, if Rush stays in Rumple's body, you'll never get back to your human form or out of this cave. "

The creature looked at them, lowered its large head to study the man who was and wasn't Nicholas Rush. Telford was still listening but none of it made any sense, they were talking about magic and fairy stories, while they appeared to have at least one piece of goa'uld technology. This was not good, unless he went back to seriously considering the possibility that he was hallucinating or had finally lost it.

"Believe me," Rush said. "Like her, I'd generally not care what you did wit' him, but Regina and the Sheriff are right. It'd bring down a world of troubles and might keep me from getting home and him from getting back."

There was another burst of flame, though nowhere nearly close to the shield.

"If you are trying to appeal to her good side, she doesn't have one," the sheriff said.

"She _can_ hear you, you know," The other woman, Regina, reminded her. "But as I was saying..." she stepped forward. "If you give Telford to us, I will personally do everything in my power to get Rumplestiltskin to return you to ...human."

The creature gave what might have almost been a huff and smoke curled out of its, her, apparently, mouth.

"So will I," one of the two other men, who had so far just stood there. This one was holding a shotgun casually in his arms. "Do you know who I am, Maleficent?"

There was another plume of smoke, and something that might have been a nod.

"Then you know that if I promise to intercede with Papa on your behalf, it holds weight?"

Another plume, another possible acknowledgement.

"Listen, you know who we are, you know our word is good." The creature turned one baleful eye and swept it over the group. "Most of us," he amended, looking at Regina.

"What? I said I would do my part," she said, indignantly

Telford started when there was a tug on his sleeve and he almost shouted. While his attention, and everyone else's had been on the principle players, the wolf/dog had crept over to his hiding place and was tugging at his sleeve. He almost cursed but the animal didn't appear to be threatening, which was an improvement, more like it was trying to... It was a ridiculous thought but no more ridiculous than anything else that had happened. David dragged himself cautiously closer. The creature nodded. Yep, it was definite, he had gone off the deep end. Still, he dragged himself after it.

"Agreed?" Regina asked.

The creature seemed to consider it. Finally, carefully the great head nodded. "Thank you." To him, and or the wolf, he wasn't certain, she said, "hurry".

He moved as fast as the pain in his leg would allow. In fact, they were almost to the relative safety of the opening when there was a last gout of fire and Telford felt his clothes catch. For a moment, he wondered where the wolf was, then blackness.

 

"Rush," Regina shouted as both she and Emma cast the same shielding spell they had done before. He didn't know what to do. Part of him was thinking blanket or water, when a torrent appeared from nowhere, splashing down on both Telford and Ruby.  The last burst of flame had been a small thing though. He was fairly certain that if she'd wanted to, the major would be naught more than a pile of ash. It stopped almost immediately, and he thought he could discern an impish smile on the dragon's (a real for the love of god dragon) face, if he didn't know better, which, he admitted, he probably didn't. Still they were all clear.

David dropped the red cloak over Ruby, and then he and Bae grabbed Telford by his wet, steaming, leather covered arms, probably mostly saved from the fire and started dragging him back the way they came, trying to keep his feet off the ground. They didn't, by unspoken agreement, stop to examine him.

Ruby, back on two feet gave him a dark look. "I didn't need the bath, you know," she said. "I hate smelling like wet wolf."

"Sorry," he said, "But I was a little busy putting out the fire to watch my aim."

Behind them, he could hear the sheriff arguing with Regina. "Reason with her, you said. I can talk to her, you said."

"And it worked, didn't it? If she'd wanted to, she would have left him looking like the remains of the spring bonfire. "

"But..."

"You would rather have to fight her again? That was her idea of a joke, a parting shot."

"Some sense of humour, she has," the sheriff growled. "Remind me to avoid her on April Fool's Day."

 

Telford regained consciousness in an old fashioned elevator, surrounded by strangers or mostly strangers, and in a lot of pain.

"Back with us?" the blond on one side asked.

"I..." he tried to talk, but his throat was dry and sore.

"Don't try to talk," the other man, the one who had offered to speak to his father about...No, it all had to be a hallucination or a dream. "Don't know how much, but you might have burned your throat a bit. You'd best stick to breathing for now."

"Well Major, that was some mess you landed us all in," Rush said with a sneer.

Telford closed his eyes and tried to get his bearings. _Pain, fire, dragon?_ The images behind his eyes weren't making any more sense the second time around and his...well, everything actually, hurt. He could smell burnt leather, cloth, hair, and skin, along with that smell that comes with throwing water on a fire. David tried to raise his arm but he couldn't really, not in the position he was in. Instead he opened his eyes again. The sheriff he recognised, and Ruby, who he hadn't seen with them before, wrapped in what looked like a red cloak and looking like she'd just gotten out of the shower, which didn't make any more sense than anything else. Next to her, the dark haired woman and Rush, well, Gold with Rush most definitely inside. He'd recognise that attitude anywhere.

The elevator shuddered to a halt and the doors opened to reveal... a library? _Yep_ , he thought, _I've definitely taken a trip off the deep end. Hope the Air Force has a nice funny farm to ship me off to. Young is never going to stop laughing._

"I take it you can get him to the hospital? That shield really took it out of me."

"We've got this, Regina. Thanks," the man he still couldn't identify said.

She didn't answer, just turned... and then she wasn't there. He thought he saw a swirl of reddish black smoke, but that couldn't be right. Head injury, maybe that was it, Telford decided. They _had_ said hospital.

"I'm going to head home too," Ruby said. "I've got work in a couple hours, after all. Pity, you were kind of cute," she said before she left. At least _she_ walked out the door.

"Bae, can you and Dad get him to the hospital in the SUV? Rush and I will follow. He's probably in shock right now and we don't really know how bad it is, that will be for Whale to figure out."

The men nodded and then, half dragging, half carrying him, they made it to an SUV. "Sorry, but your jacket protected at least this part of you. We don't want to risk trying to lift you any other way." Before he could think about it, Telford lost consciousness again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know you have all been waiting for this. I hope it lives up to expectations. Please, please, please, let me know what you think, read, comment and all those things.


	43. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Telford makes it to the hospital. Destiny drop out of FTL and turn about is fair play.

When he regained consciousness, David was on a gurney, being rolled down a corridor, the lights flashing above as he passed under. He assumed it was a hospital, at least it looked and smelled like every hospital he'd ever been in. With consciousness came pain, followed by nausea, which was followed by the thought that as sore as his throat was, that was absolutely the last thing he needed. _Great, now I'm thinking about it_. It wasn't helping, nor was the bouncing. He closed his eyes and hoped that _did_ help.

"Name?" someone was asking near him.

"David Telford, don't know his middle name," the familiar voice of Rush. It was most definitely Rush, regardless of body, but the similarities were freaky and far too much for him to worry about right now. Besides, opening his mouth sounded like a very bad plan.

"It's a good thing he had the leather jacket. It gave him some protection," the man, probably a doctor, said. "We're going to have to get him out of it. Prep an IV, and we're going to have to get him out of all this stuff. Do you know if he has any allergies? Medical conditions?" Telford opened his eyes. The man was blond, blue eyes, white lab coat, arrogant manner, definitely a doctor. The gurney had stopped, arriving in a treatment bay that also looked like every other one he'd ever been in.

"Does almost terminal stupidity count?" Another voice, the sheriff, asked from somewhere below his feet.

"No' that I know, but I'd not, unless a permanent case of his head up his arse counts."

"The sarcasm is _not_ getting us anywhere," the doctor said sharply. "I can't get him anything for the pain without knowing what it will do, and I can't assess the damage without giving him something. Or I can, but it would be cruel. What was he doing down the mines anyway? At least she was in a good mood," He shook his head.

"Sticking his nose where it wasn't wanted and didn't belong, it's his speciality," Rush said.

"Well, he's lucky he still has one."

"Can hear you," Telford croaked, before snapping his mouth shut to keep dinner from making a return appearance.

"Mr. Telford?"

"Colonel," Rush supplied.

"Colonel, I'm Doctor Whale. Try to talk as little as possible. Orderly, start with his boots. Nodding is fine. Now, do you have any allergies?"

Shake.

"Medical conditions?"

Shake.

"Sir," the person, presumably the orderly who was cutting the laces on one of his blackened boots, got his attention.

"I'll take that," the Sheriff said, and he felt the holster being removed and saw it handed over to her, pistol and all. "He's even luckier than I thought. If that ammo had cooked off..."

"Quite. Nausea?" he returned his attention to the patient, his mouth a thin slit.

Emphatic nod.

"All right, I'm going to give you something for the pain in just a moment. Nurse, get me the syringe. Is that IV ready? We've got to get him out of that jacket. As soon as it takes effect, we can get started."

Telford closed his eyes, it seemed to help. They were rolling him carefully, trying to get his jacket off. "Shit," he heard the orderly say. "Lining's melted to his shirt, maybe through it, can't tell. Shears?" There was more tugging, and cold air, followed by something wet on his arm. *prick*

"Good thing you got him out when you did. The polyester in his jacket lining could have given him some serious burns if it had gotten through his shirt, or more than it did." There was still talking, but slowly it was fading, or at least Telford didn't care anymore. The pain was fading, and he welcomed oblivion.

 

It was almost dawn by the time Emma Swan dropped Rush off at the pink house. He let himself in quietly, hoping not to wake anyone. Mandi and Mary deserved to have their sleep. He felt filthy and wanted nothing more than a shower before falling into whatever empty bed he could find. So it was a surprise when, as Rush limped towards the stairs, Mandi's voice called out from the living room.

"Nick, is that you?" He moved to the doorway.

"Mandi, what are you doing up? You heard the...er... You need your rest," he finished.

"I know, I know, but I was too excited to sleep and then..." she looked down for a moment, and he detected something, embarrassment.

He limped over towards her but stopped before touching, conscious of his grubby state. "What is it? You know you can..."

"I...I didn't want to sleep alone," she admitted. "I was wondering if you would mind..."

It was not what he was expecting. That little spark of hope leaped a bit higher, becoming more of a candle flame, though he tried to keep it down. It was not that at all. Strange house, fear of nightmares, desire for physical contact, especially now, any or all, that was all she was asking.

"I'm afraid I'll wake up in my chair and this will all be a dream. It's silly, just forget..."

"No," he said instantly. "No, 's fine. Let's go upstairs. Let me have a shower and then...What I mean to say, I'll be glad to keep your nightmares at bay. Maybe, maybe you can keep back a few of mine?"

She smiled at him, and Nick was glad, for the first time, that he was completely exhausted, as it would make a cold shower unnecessary. He was already aching.

 

Gold and Belle were standing in the Gate room watching the countdown clock with Riley, Eli, and Doctor Volker, when Young walked in.

"How's your head this morning?" Gold asked. Not that he cared. He still didn't necessarily trust the man, much less like him, still, he had promised to play nice.

"Better. Glad I wasn't here to take the punch though. You have one hell of a swing. Remind me to stay on your good side," he replied with a smile.

"Easier said than done. There are a not a few people who would tell you that I've not got one," he quipped. Belle gave him a discreet nudge. "But, I'm sure it's no matter."

"So what are you two doing up and out here? Thought you've been..." He stopped, realising how easily what he had been about to say could be taken the wrong way, or the right way for that matter, but either was, it was tactless. There had been enough of _that_ sort of misunderstanding. But it didn't matter.

"Knowing the possibilities, I thought it might be best to be somewhere public. I have no desire to cause embarrassment, neither do I share."

"Er....ah, yeah, well..." Young tried to find some words, but they had all fled. Riley and Eli were now focusing particularly intently on the console, while Volker just curled his lip and huffed. "Besides, we need to know if..." the Colonel left it there. The rest didn't need saying.

"Fifteen seconds," Eli said. "14...13...12..." he continued, one eye on the display, the other on Rush. "2...1."

Rumplestiltskin started awake in his guest bedroom, his arms full of a strange woman. Ah, well, he thought philosophically, now they were even.

"Nick?" she asked, sleepily.

"I'm afraid not, I am Rumplestiltskin, " he said, trilling his r's just a little bit. "And you must be Doctor Perry. It's a pleasure..."

 

"What the..." Rush growled, starting. The ship must have dropped out of FTL. "Colonel," he said, knowing he didn't have long. "What..." He couldn't help seeing the bruise across the side of the man's head, but he couldn't pause to think about it. It was unimportant at the moment. "I need two more days," he said quickly, meeting Belle's eyes. She nodded, so did Young. They had both gotten the message, just not the same one. "I've got new power distribution numbers. Doctor Perry..."

"Take your time for now. We're..."

And Nick was back where he'd started. "The ship dropped out of FTL," he said, seeing that Mandi was awake. "It severs the connection momentarily. Nothing to worry about. Go back to sleep," Nick whispered, wrapping his arms more firmly around her. God, it felt good to have her there.

"I met your...er..."

"Ah. A little awkward, I suppose. I'm sorry for that. At least everyone was wearing clothes," he said, before drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of those. Please continue reading and commenting. I am reallly enjoying your take on what should happen to Telford, but I think you will all be pleased.


	44. Assessing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush makes some decisions with a little encouragement from Amanda Perry, and Telford wakes up in the hospital.

As soon as Rumplestiltskin was once again in his own body, he looked around.

"Well, now we know it works," Young said.

"Aye, we do," he replied noncommittally, then as soon as he could, he grabbed Belle and left the gate room which was a hive of activity, a team being prepped for travel to the planet. They were completely unnecessary and no one noticed when they left.

As soon as they were alone, he pulled Belle close. "Did Rush having anything to say," he asked after a kiss.

"Two days," she told him. "What about you, did you see how preparations are going on..."

"Not exactly. However, I believe that Blue was able to solve Doctor Perry's problem. Certainly she didn't appear to be disadvantaged."

Belle raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly were she and Doctor Rush doing?" she asked.

"Nothing that you would object to love, suffice it to say, he and I are even. It appears he has taken my advice and is not letting the grass grow under his feet though."

"I'm not sure I like sharing," she teased.

"We are hardly in a place to complain," he reminded her. "Speaking of which...we've nowhere to be, and everyone is busy with going through the magic mirror, so..."

 

The second time Nicholas Rush woke up his eyes fell on the brunette head that was resting on his shoulder. It was late morning, or so the clock said, and he was still in Storybrooke, still in Gold's body, and still had Amanda Perry wrapped in his arms. It felt good, he decided. Even better than waking with Belle. Not that there was anything wrong with her, she was beautiful and he had little doubt that he would have found himself falling for her, had the circumstances been right. But now that he was in his own head, well, in Gold's head, but with only one mind, he could separate what were his feelings and what belonged to the imp. The experience that had first been a painful reminder of loss, was now the encouragement he needed to reconsider his choices. Now that he had choices. It would be very hard listening to the damn man, creature, whatever, deliver the expected 'I told you so', but he had been right. This was definitely a new opportunity.

However, that was something to be dealt with later, right now there was something a bit more pressing. Before his encounter with the impossible, it had been years since he had a woman in his arms at all. At the moment, it was causing a completely expected difficulty. Rush was the first to admit that he paid little attention to physical comforts, and hadn't particularly since his wife died, when he stopped paying attention to anything but his work. However, there was something to be said for Gold's love of all things silk, especially silk pajamas. They were comfortable, felt good against the skin and at the moment, with Mandi in his arm's, and one thigh thrown across his body, he was wishing for something, anything else. It in no way helped that she was moving softly in her sleep. He had almost forgotten, actually there was no almost about it, until Belle Gold and her annoying husband had fallen into his life, what it was to wake up wanting a woman. Now, he felt like a randy teen again, and it was entirely inappropriate.

Regardless of what Rumplestiltskin had said, the few cues that he thought she was sending, nothing had been said. Last night, she only wanted to sleep with him for comfort and to think of anything else so early in their...well, whatever, was not something he should be dwelling on. None of these things helped, however. There were just too many things he should be considering. Then Mandi opened her eyes.

"Morning," he said, his voice a little hoarse, mouth dry.

"Morning, Nick. It is you, this time?"

"Most definitely." He smiled a little. Yes, that could be a little awkward, but certainly not as awkward as it was going to be when she noticed his 'condition' or maybe he would get lucky and she wouldn't? No, he was probably not that lucky, certainly he'd never been before. But she wasn't making any move to get away, or even extract herself from where they were tangled together.

"Thank you for last night," she told him. "It meant..."

"T'is nothing at all. Besides, it's only fair after all the nights you spent with me when..." he stopped. Now was absolutely the last time to be thinking about that. Though if she could, Gloria'd be the first to encourage him.

"I thought...I don't know, I was afraid you thought I was a nuisance."

I thought you were brilliant. I used to call you 'little miss brilliant', you were so far ahead of all of the rest, especially that birk, Davies..."

"Nick," she said, shifting a little in his arms. "All that time, the nights we spent talking, did you..." she paused. "Did you ever...did you know how I felt about you?"

Rush took a deep breath. He'd been trying to avoid this elephant for a little while, to give her an opportunity to get used to her working body, her new life. The truth was, he'd not noticed, but he wouldn't have. He'd not been thinking of any woman. He'd buried that part of his life when he'd buried Gloria. Now it looked like he was digging it up. "I though you felt sorry for me," he said honestly. "I was in a pretty bad way. You and my work kept me gettin' up in the morning,"

"And now?" Mandi whispered. She was very close, her lips just inches from his.

He swallowed and bent his head to her's. The offer was there, and he couldn't refuse. The intellectual part of his brain was telling him what a bad idea this was, that he was taking advantage of her. Mandi was vulnerable and regardless of how much he'd been catching up to the idea of her in a more intimate role, it was wrong. The rest of him, the part that had been so very alone, told his logical mind to just sod off and leave them be. Then he was kissing her.

It was messy, uncoordinated, and perfect. It felt real. Rush was the first to admit to himself that it had been a long time, unless being an unwilling and unwelcome participant in Belle and Rumplestiltskin's...encounters counted. But Mandi wasn't complaining. Indeed, when he pulled back, a soft moan of protest escaped her.

"I wasn't sure if you would be interested, you know, now. But I had to try."

"Mandi," he said incredulously. "How could I not be? Ignoring for the moment why a beautiful, talented, young woman like you would want a scrawny, auld, bad tempered bloke like me, how could I not? You're brilliant, one of the few people I've ever met who can challenge me intellectually."

"That doesn't mean that you..." she started, so he kissed her again, pressing her even closer.

No more playing or hiding, she couldn't fail to notice the effect she had on him. The timing might be ridiculously bad, but he would make sure that she knew he was willing. Actually it was taking a large amount of effort to keep from rolling over and taking this beyond a few heated hisses. But it had been a long time for him, discounting certain memories he wished he could be free of, and to be honest he'd never considered before what her level of sexual experience was, and those were the considerations right at the top of the list. Instead he broke off, both of them flushed and panting. "Ye were saying?" he inquired with a half smile, raising a hand to touch her cheek.

"I..." then her eyes fell upon his hand, on the ring there. It wasn't his ring, hell, it wasn't his hand, but... "Maybe we should wait."

' _Bugger that_ ,' the voice in the back of his head growled. "Mandi, it's me, it's Nick in this body, which is pretty bloody close, I'll admit. There are reasons, lots of them perhaps, but this body isn't one of them. I'm absolutely certain that he and Belle are not showing the same restraint." She nodded and he could see her working her way through it. "We can take things as slow or as fast as you like. If this isn't what you want, I expect nothing of you. But I'll not let you think that I don't care for you and that I don't want you."

She smiled and then moved back, closing the gap and kissing him again. They probably would have stayed there kissing but there was a brisk rapping at the bedroom door that startled them apart.

"Rush, Doctor Perry? I know you are in there. I need you downstairs as soon as you can. We've got to talk about Telford." The voice was the sheriff's.

If there was anything that could break the moment, it was on the other side of the door.  It was even better than a bucket of cold water. It wasn't just that she was the sheriff, it was the knowledge that she was also the daughter in law of the body he was in. It felt like the first time he'd got caught in the broom cupboard with Esme Campbell in primary school. 

He and Mandi scrambled, as well as he could scramble with a bad leg, out of the bed and he grabbed for the dressing gown. "I'll let you have the bathroom first," he said.

"While you go in search of coffee and a cigarette?" Mandi asked with a smile.

"You know me too well," he said, then with a quick kiss, he left the room.

 

Emma Swan was in the kitchen alone making coffee when he came down. "Mary's gone to pick up breakfast from the diner. Figured as late as last night was, no one was up for cooking."

"I can't anyway. Miss Swan, about...well, regardless of what you think, it was nothing. Mandi didn't want to be..."

"Stop there. Two things. One, I neither know nor want to. It's none of my business. Two, the less I think about it, the better I feel."

"I just didn't want you to think that we were...that I was..."

"Rush, none of my business, and if it was I'd say that's up to the two of you, you're both adults. It's not like she's looking at a stranger. Frankly, knowing them, Gold and Belle are hardly..." She broke off and shuddered.

Rush nodded. The memories were a bit too close at the moment, close enough that in a strange way, it felt almost like he was somehow cheating, though on who or how, he had not worked out. Before he could say anything more, though, there was a rap on the door. Without waiting for an answer, it opened.

"Well, you're awake, that's something," Regina said.

"And not had me coffee yet," he warned.

"Well, get on with it. We've got things to talk about. By the way, what happened to Rumple's side table, the one on the porch? I don't remember it being that colour, or having that many legs."

 

By the time Mary had returned with a couple giant bags of food, Rush had changed, drunk a couple of cups of coffee, and had his morning cigarette, something he was going to miss back aboard Destiny. Mandi too had changed, and was enjoying a cup of coffee next to him at the table. The companion looked at the two of them and smiled. ' _Christ, does everyone know we spent the night together? They all think we're at it.'_

 _'Despite what you told her, If the sheriff hadn't shown up, you probably would have been,'_ he reminded himself.

"I brought a little of...well, I'm not actually sure what," Mary said as she set the bags down on the counter. "There was an older woman, she just said we'd need to keep up our energy. She said she's putting it on Gold's tab."

"He can afford it," Regina remarked with a philosophical shrug. "Especially if he's back at his wheel."

"What?" Mary asked.

"Rumplestiltskin, he spins straw into gold, that part is true," Regina said slowly, as if waiting for her to catch up.  The Evil Queen was not known for her patience.

"But that..." Regina just looked at her with one neat eyebrow raised.

"Wheel's in his office," Emma offered. "Bae says it helps him think. Now, what are we going to do with Telford? I'm guessing that first we need to question him. Rush, think you probably know him well enough, you'd best come. What about..."

"Mandi needs to rest and build up her strength," Rush reminded them.

"Nick," the woman protested.

"He's right," Mary agreed. "You heard the woman last night, you need to take it slow."

"Archie's going to come by later to see how you're doing," Emma said.

"Doctor?" Mandi asked.

"Cricket," Regina said.

"Shrink," Emma said giving the other woman a dark look. "Or as close as we've got around here. He's a good guy, just wants to see how you are adapting. Besides, he wants to feel like he's helping. It's just who he is. Probably should get a doctor to check you out though. Maybe Whale..."

"You want to let Frankenstein check her over?" Rush burst out, while the other two women looked on, not certain if they wanted to believe.

"Look, I know who he was, or is, but despite that, he's a good doctor. Don't tell him I said that, ever. The other choice is Doc, but he's more of a GP. He's one of the seven dwarves if that makes it any better."

"All right," Rush agreed reluctantly. "But after we are done with Telford, and I want to be here."

"What about what I want?" Mandi asked sharply. "I can make my own decisions, have been for years, and I don't need a doctor. I've had too many of them all my life."

"Mandi..." Mary said.

"Mandi," Rush chimed in. "Please? We need to make sure that everything is as it should be. It will make me feel better."

"I feel fine," she protested.

"For me? Allow me to be a bit overprotective for now. Besides, Destiny is a bit primitive, want to make sure you're healthy first." She nodded.

"Now, Telford..."

 

David Telford woke groggy and confused. He tried to think. His head felt funny and his limbs were heavy. Everything hurt, but he couldn't isolate where or why.

"Do you know where you are?" someone was asking.

"Infirmary?" he croaked. His throat was sore, reminding him a bit of the last surgery he'd had. "Gonna court martial that...no, can't court martial, not military. Not even Rush," he mumbled. Somewhere in his memory he could see him, Rush, Gold, whoever. He'd punched him. Must have hit something. "Head injury?" he asked. It was the only thing that made sense. Certainly what was in his head didn't. Weird dreams, fire, wolves, caves, and something that looked like a dragon but could not be.

"He is pretty well out of it at the moment," the man was saying but to whom, he couldn't tell. Keeping his eyes open was too much effort.

"How is he?" That voice was familiar, though he couldn't quite place it.

"First degree burns over most of his body, some second, neither of those is much of a problem. The leg is a different story. He took a good blast. He's lucky it wasn't more direct, he would not have a leg. As it is, third degree burns, compounded by burnt fabric in the wound along with rock dust, and who knows what all else. We debrided it, but the risk of at least some infection is almost a hundred percent. We've added antibiotics as a precaution. Other than that? Smoke inhalation, possibly a little smoke damage to his lungs, but not severe, it should clear up. His hair will grow back as well. Overall, I would say he's doing pretty well considering."

"Thank you. When are we going to be able to talk to him?"

"We've changed his pain medication to something a bit less disorienting. Give us another hour, and he should be more conscious. We've got to change his bandages as well. You are welcome to stay and watch, the technique for burn care is..."

"Yeah, thanks, but no thanks, we just ate."

 

When Telford woke up again he could see the hospital room around him and began to take stock. There was an IV in one arm, and his body felt like he was covered in a bad sunburn. It didn't hurt exactly, but he felt hot. It didn't hurt as bad as it could though, he thought, looking down at his reddened hands, must be the drugs. His right leg was bandaged from hip to knee and there was a dull ache there.

He tried to clear his head. What did he remember? Storybrooke, the town that Gold and his wife came from. He'd gone to check out the mines, then...it snapped back to him. The alien! There was a big alien...whatever, and they knew it was there, all of them, including Rush. He had the bastard this time. When he was done, Doctor Nicholas Rush would be locked away under Cheyenne Mountain. But first he had to tell someone, get back up. Telford looked around but there was no phone in the room, and he was fairly certain that his cell was...probably a mass of twisted, melted plastic. They would really need to find out how it did that.

Slowly, he moved to the edge of the bed and put his feet on the floor. With a little effort, he got to his feet, and promptly started to fall. His bandaged leg was not cooperating. Still, with a little work he managed to get the IV stand over. Using it as a prop, David made it to the door.

"You're not supposed to be up," the voice came from a man, a man much bigger than he was. At 6', he wasn't used to that many people looking down at him. The two men were waiting outside his door.

"Yeah, you should get back to bed. Tiny, help him," the man with him was short and a bit familiar. He'd been in the diner, Telford remembered, Walter or Leroy or something. But before he could consider it further, or try to find something to say, the big man reached down and lifted him up from the waist, carefully.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," the man said, adjusting his hold so he could push the IV without detaching it. "I won't drop you, promise."

"Yeah," the other man said, presumably into a phone. "He's awake, just tried to creep out, like you said. No, no problem. Tiny's putting him back in bed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all that are reading. Since it's been a couple of days, I'm making it up with a nice long chapter. Please enjoy, and keep up the comments. Any characters you want to see included who haven't made an appearance, things I'm missing, let me know.


	45. Getting Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush, Regina and Emma go to question Telford, and have a small accident. Telford has a bad case of foot in mouth disease.

Telford was in the bed when Rush walked in followed by the sheriff and the dark haired woman called Regina. He vaguely remembered that there was a Regina in Greer and Johansen's reports, a Regina....something with an M, Miller, Mitchell, Myers. She was some connection to the town and also to Gold's family, though in this town that wasn't surprising. They were practically inbred, but what she was doing here now he hadn't a clue.

"Colonel Telford," Rush said as he limped to the bedside. Close up he could see some differences. He was clearly raiding Gold's closet, the obvious limp, and a flash of what might be a gold tooth. Gold also seemed to have a little more weight than Rush, though not much, implying that he took better care of himself, or his wife did. His hair was long like Rush's, but it had at least seen a barber in recent memory. "Well, this is a bit awkward, isn't it? What are you doing here, Colonel?"

"General O'Neill..."

"General O'Neill never authorised this, and we both know it. He'd not, too suspicious in such a small town. In fact, I'll be interested in what he has to say about your little infiltration operation."

"Yes, tell him," the Colonel said, defiantly. "I'll be looking forward to it. You can explain to him about the alien at the same time, not to mention whee you got that Goa'uld shield generator."

"What is he talking about, Rush?" Regina asked in annoyance. "What alien?"

"I think he's talking about Maleficent," the sheriff said.

They had agreed to let Rush try and talk to him before they did anything else. That didn't mean that Regina was going to be nice about it. She barked out a laugh, not a pleasant one. "Mal's a lot of things, but she's no alien, and I've known her most of my life. What is it with you people and aliens?"

"Well, technically, I suppose she's an illegal alien, it's not like she gets out and we have no paperwork for her," Emma said with a shrug. The man had annoyed them both, and Rush was seeing it was going to be that kind of conversation.

"Even if she could get out, it's not as if she can just go to the DMV, she certainly doesn't drive."

"She can fly, right? Maybe the FAA?" Emma suggested.

"All right," Rush said. As much as he was enjoying the mocking of Telford, and wouldn't mind joining it, he'd rather be back at the house. He shifted his weight a little, trying to find a good position to stand in.

"Rush, here." Emma shoved a chair at him.

"I'm fine," he practically growled. The lights flickered.

"Rumple's been dealing with that leg for at least thirty years, longer even. You've only had a couple of days. Take the chair, pain raises the chances of you doing something unfortunate. If you blow him up by accident, there's no coming back." He sat.

"Now, as I was saying, O'Neill hasn't the foggiest notion you are here. In fact, I would guess you've done this completely off the books. Weren't expecting to get caught, were you?"

Telford's eyes flicked away.

"A truth potion would be faster," Regina groused.

"I thought we would give him a chance."

"Why? You're going to kill me anyway. You can't hide an alien plot."

"I'm starting to understand what he means about the alien obsession," Rush commented.

"If that wasn't an alien, what was it? You can tell me before I die, satisfy my curiosity."

"Well, you're not gonna die, but..." Rush shrugged. If he had to get his head around magic and myth, he saw no reason not to share the headache, at least for now.

"That was a dragon," Regina said.

"Bullshit, there's no such thing as dragons," Telford barked.

"A lot of people would tell you the same thing about aliens. I tell you what, I dare you to go back down there and tell her that," Emma said. "It worked so well for you the last time. Look, let's make this quick and easy. What are you doing here, and why the hell did you go down into the mines, when you were warned that it was dangerous?"

"I needed to find out what you were hiding. This whole thing has stunk from start to finish. People don't just teleport across the galaxy without some major technical help. Then there is the similarity between him and..." He paused. "It's just too close. Rush had no family, I looked. Now you want me to believe that the...thing...down in the mines is a dragon."

"Careful, that 'thing' happens to be a friend of mine," Regina warned.

"You leave all your friends living in mines?" Telford sneered. Rush knew that he was goading them, Regardless of what they told him, he wasn't going to believe that they weren't going to kill him.

"It's a complicated relationship," she shrugged. "Besides, I'm not stupid enough to involve myself in whatever longstanding feud she's got with Rumplestiltskin, doing that is what got her there in the first place."

"Rumplestiltskin." He laughed. "Right, next thing you'll be telling me that you're Snow White." Rush pinched the bridge of his nose, and Emma raised a hand to her forehead. "Where are the seven dwarves?"

"There's no need to be insulting," Regina said darkly. "She's probably still at school, and you've met Grumpy already."

"Would it help if I said he was always this stupid and confrontational?" Rush asked. "Colonel Young has a pretty impressive bruise that I suspect is a result of Telford's time in the colonel's body."

"That bastard Gold sucker punched me."

"Gods, with his mouth, we are lucky he's not a snail and that would be a lot harder to hide," Regina commented.

"The question is, what are we going to do with you?" Emma asked.

"Memory potion?" Rush suggested. "But how to we explain the burns? Can you do something?"

"Blue is out, fixing Dr. Perry took a lot out of her. I might be able to do it, or Rumple, but..."

"But I am not him. I'm just as like to do more harm that good."

"Another fairy? Tink..." The sheriff suggested.

"I can still hear you, and I think you're all crazy, the alien has you under some kind of mind control. You forget, I saw you. You have a Goa'uld shield generator."

"A what?" Regina asked in confusion.

"He's talking about a piece of technology that creates the same effect as what you used to defend us from Maleficent," Rush explained.

"Maleificent is a fairy tale, a Disney movie, like Cinderella or...there's no such thing as magic. You know that, Rush, at least you used to, before..."

"Before I met these people and was forced to learn better, rather like the first time we went through the stargate. Fortunately, in a few days, you'll not remember any of this," Rush told him.

"You aren't getting inside my head,' Telford cried.

"No, I'm not, I'd probably end up blowing it off your bloody body. I'll leave that to someone who knows what they are doing. We'll have to have the burns seen to though, and his hair." The last part was to the other two.

"The hair is easy enough, the clothes can be remade, both of those are simple. But he's hiding something," Regina said. "I can feel it."

"Probably hiding a lot of things, but we know what we need to know. He's here on his own," Emma said. "Care to tell us when you are expected back?"

"Tomorrow," Telford said. "You guys would be better off turning yourselves in. They will be looking for me if I don't report in. Wouldn't want them to know I was AWOL."

"And that would be a lie," Regina said.

"You booked the room at the B and B for three nights, and you would need time to drive back to..."

"Washington, DC," Rush supplied. "He's stationed at the Pentagon. I can make a call, find out how long he's on leave. We hate each other, that's well known enough, but me asking after him because I need some information won't be remarked on."

"Rush," Telford said urgently. He was starting to be concerned. The scientist was right, he was on leave, and he'd come here without authorisation, an action that could be seen as going against orders. It would, at the very least, reflect poorly on him. Of course, that Regina was standing there, that she knew about Rush and Gold meant that he'd already broken protocol. Then there was the alien. He refused to believe in dragons or fairies or magic. Just because they had Rush fooled...."Come on, this is national security, you can't believe what they are saying, it's got to be some kind of drugs, or...something. Help me and maybe I'll put in a good word for you."

"Goodbye, Telford. I imagine by the next time you remember seeing me, I'll be myself again and you'll remember none of this." He stood carefully and started to turn, but the Colonel reached out and grabbed him. There was no thought to it, or no clear thought. He wasn't even certain where it came from. One moment, Telford was reaching for him and the next there was a snail on the hospital bed.

The alarm on the IV started to blare. "Oops?" Rush said.

"Impressive," Regina said with an approving smile.

"What ha...." Whale shouted as he ran into the room. "What did you do to my patient?"

"Don't suppose you could tell me how to reverse it?"

 

It took an hour, in the end, to reverse the accidental transformation, and by the time he'd gotten back to the house, it was catching up with him. He'd accidentally turned someone into a snail. Rush thought he'd been handling things fairly well up to that point, the porch table aside. But he had not thought too clearly about what he was capable of. Sharing with Rumplestiltskin had not really prepared him for it.

Rush was quiet on the ride back to the house, thinking. He'd actually advocated for leaving the man as he was, as long as they could and Regina had agreed with him. Telford would certainly be less trouble that way. But Frankenstein objected, saying he was a doctor, not a veterinarian, if that was what a gastropod even needed, and had no way of knowing how transmutation affected his injuries. Unfortunately it had been much harder to return him. Telford was probably going to be sedated for some time, apparently the process was some what traumatising. He wanted to feel bad about it, really he did, but he couldn't quite manage it.

 

Back at the house, Mandi was trying on some clothes that Mary had gone out and gotten her. "I needed something different," she said, twirling around in the skirt for him. "What about you? How did talking to Telford go?"

"About as well as I expected," he told her.

"You turned the man into a snail," Emma snapped.

"It was an accident."

"Did you leave him that way?" Mandi asked. "He'd be less of a pain in the ass."

"You know him too, I see," the sheriff said.

"Oh yes, he ran some numbers past me. He wanted me to agree that Nick was wrong about some capabilities of the power distribution system."

"Yes, she got so angry it brought on a seizure. I had him thrown out," Mary said, coming into the kitchen. "I put the rest of the clothes in the room you slept in last night," the woman said without blinking.

"Mary, you don't need to take care of me any more," Mandi said.

"Until you leave for good and I become unemployed, I'll keep taking care of you."

"I hadn't..." Rush started. "Are you going to be all right?" He hadn't really thought about what it would mean for the companion.

"I'll be fine," Mary said. "I have savings and besides, I'm getting to see something that people in my job almost never get, to watch her get well and go off to achieve her dreams."

"Oh, Mary," Mandi said, hugging her. "You're still as close as I have to family. You'll be my contact, and you can stay in the house, it's not like I am going to need it."

"Perhaps. I expect you to visit though," the woman said. "I got something for you while I was out," she said, trying to get back to a semblance of normalcy. "I left it on the nightstand. Now, what else is on the schedule for today?"

"Well, Regina said I don't need another lesson today."

"Archie's still coming by and Whale will be around when he's finished with his rounds. Me? I'm off myself. I promised Bae that I would actually come home tonight. Besides that, you're on your own," she said with a shrug. "Oh, did you move the table on the porch? The one that you accidentally... Never mind," she said as she got up.

"Well, I for one am going to curl up with a long bath in that big tub upstairs, followed by a good book and early bed," Mary said, looking significantly at the two of them.

"Since Telford's out of our hair, how about after the doctors are finished, we go and see what delights Storybrooke holds?"

"Why, Doctor Rush, are you asking me out on a date?" she asked.

"Doctor Perry, I believe I am," he said, with a smile.

Mary looked at them and said something under her breath that might have been 'more like it' but they didn't hear here and were too busy looking at one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support on this story, I really appreciate it. Please keep the comments coming. Special thanks to my sister, BardicRaven, who was part of the conversation that led to the 'FAA' comment.
> 
> Next time- Doctors visit, and a first date. Also, can anyone guess what Mary bought for Mandi?


	46. Stories and Doctors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush and Mandi learn a little about Rumplestiltskin from Archie Hopper, and Mandi gets a check up.

Archie Hopper showed up shortly after Emma left. Mary had said she was going to find a good book in the rather well stocked library in the house, so Rush and Mandi were settled in the kitchen. "I thought I would see how everything was going," he said as he was let into the kitchen with Pongo.

"Now, I refuse to believe there are 101 of them," Mandi said as she petted the dog.

"Not at all," the polite young man said. "It just seemed a good name for a dalmatian at the time. I got him at some point during the curse. I can put him out if you like. He's generally well behaved, though he was growling at that strange table on the porch."

"He can stay as far as I'm concerned," Rush said as the dog came over to where he was sitting and sniffed him. "Gold's not allergic, is he?"

"No, he likes Pongo, actually. I'm not sure he _can_ be allergic," the psychologist said thinking about it. "He is immortal, as far as anyone knows, and he's been around...well, for a long time. Except for the...well, you know, I don't think..."

"No, I don't know," Rush said. "I shared my body with the man, but that doesn't mean he was forthcoming about a lot of things. Though as near as I can tell, he _is_ as old as people think he is, probably older, it's...not that simple." He didn't have a good way of explaining the differences, or the memories that were older than the imp himself.

"Well, I suppose....as I understand it, and I'm no expert, but the curse of the Dark One is supposed to be attached to an object, a dagger. I've seen it, once." Archie paused. Rush was thinking, some of this was at least familiar. He could see the image of a large dagger with a name on it, and an old beggar. Something about having to save Bae. "He went after Pan with it. Malcolm, he called him Malcolm."

"Malcolm?" Rush asked. That brought him up short. It was a bit disconcerting.

"His father. I don't think anyone knew until that moment, and I'm sure he would have preferred there not be an audience.  He's a private person, but I suppose since you...The man abandoned him as a boy to gain the power. He became Peter Pan, and believe me, the real Pan is nothing like your fairy tales. Probably half my practice right now is made up of his lost boys," Archie said, shaking his head. The man looked angry, and it was not a natural look on the friendly face. "Some of them may never heal completely."

But Rush had stopped paying attention. If there was anything more disturbing than...well, everything, actually, that had happened, that was it.

"Nick?" Mandi asked, looking at him in concern. She was probably the only one who could read him that well.

"It's nothing," he told her. He knew she didn't believe him, but then, he didn't believe him, either. "So what happened? Is the man still alive?"

"Oh, no, Rumplestiltskin killed him, right out in the center of town, did it with the dagger. He needed to save Henry. Pan's power was fading, and he wanted to take Henry's heart. If there is one thing that I'm sure you know, he's very protective of his family. I don't condone violence, but..."

"Selfish Bastard," Rush said. _That was something that they had in common._ But he seemed a bit distracted.

"That's putting it mildly. I'm not saying I don't have a healthy respect for the Dark One, but I've never seen Rumplestiltskin that angry, ever, and I'd be  just as happy never to see it again. " the red head shuddered. "But I'm not here to talk about him. I'm here to see how you are doing. Doctor Perry, if you'd like to go into the other room," he suggested in his best therapeutic tone.

"There's no need, Nick..." Mandi asked.

"No, you go ahead. I'm fine," he reassured her. "Just thinking. While you talk to the doctor, I've a few phone calls to make, and I need to see if Gold has a notepad. I should get some work done." Numbers, they had always been his escape, and right now he needed them more than ever.

"All right. I'm surprised it's taken you this long, honestly," she said. "After you, doctor."

"Oh, please, just call me Archie," he told her. "Everyone does. It's better than Jimminy."

Pongo looked at them, then at Rush, and came and dropped at the scientist's feet. Rush pulled out the cell and dialed a number. "Yes, this is Doctor Rush," he told the person on the other end. "Yes, the tests..."

 

When Mandi and Archie returned to the kitchen, Rush had managed to find a legal pad and was back at the table with a cup of coffee at his elbow, Pongo resting on his feet, and several sheets already covered with numbers, symbols,and calculations. He looked up, distracted. "All good then?" he asked, one eye still on the pad.

"She's doing well. I'd say she's adapting to her new circumstances wonderfully. Actually, you're doing far better than some of the people here after the curse broke." It seemed to be high praise.

"Well, this is what I've always wanted. I've dreamed about it, imagined it, I just...when I imagined this, I thought in terms of medical breakthroughs, lots of surgery and rehab, or possibly alien tech. A couple of years ago, we thought I might give the Goa'uld sarcophagus a try, but the logistics of getting me to it ended up being too much. Now...it's all real and all it took was believing in magic."

"Well, I don't know what a 'guld sarcophagus' is, but I feel the same way about technology," Archie told her. "Our world was low tech, but we always knew about magic. Now, you remember what I said, you might have some nightmares, delayed reaction, but that is all it is."

 

After Archie left, Mandi joined Rush at the table and began reading over his shoulder. "You left out..." she pointed.

"Thanks," he said, squeezing the missing symbol down onto the pad.

"What is it, Nick?"

"Trying to figure out where the disruption in the power flow is. We should be charged up more than we are," he told her, deliberately misunderstanding.

"That's not it, and you know it. Something Archie said is bothering you, something about Rumplestiltskin...Is that really who...Never mind, later. Now, what was it?"

"Don't suppose you'd believe me if I said that believing in Peter Pan was too much, would ye?" he asked. She just looked at him. "No," he sighed. "Did you know they are running Gold's DNA? They want to compare it to mine."

"What do you think they'll find?" she asked perceptively. "I mean, is it even possible that you are related?"

"I'd have thought not. But...I have a theory, but..."

"But?" she asked.

"Mandi, I trust you more than anyone else on this or any other planet, but...I'm just not ready to talk about it, not yet."

"When you are," she told him, leaving it there. "Now, do you have some schematics for me? Maybe the problem is in the collectors themselves, or maybe the relays."

 

They were so immersed in their work that they missed the ringing of the doorbell. "I'll just get that, shall I?" Mary called after the second ring. A few moments later voices and the second doctor of the day followed Mary into the kitchen.

"Doctor Rush," the man said, formally before he turned towards Mandi with a charming smile sliding onto his face.

"Doctor Whale, or do you prefer Frankenstein?" Rush didn't know why, but the man got on his tits. Besides, he wanted to make sure that his position, and Mandi's, was clear.

"Either is fine," he said evenly. "Despite the way I have been portrayed in this world's literature, it is a proud name, with a long history."

 _Yep, arrogant German nob,_ Rush thought.

"Now, I've been asked to examine Miss..."

"Doctor," Rush corrected him. "Doctor Amanda Perry, meet Doctor Frankenstein." He made the formal introduction. If it bothered the physician, there was no sign, though Mandi gave him a look. Still, it was effective. Whatever it was that the arrogant prick saw when he looked at him, Rush could tell that he would be keeping himself to himself. That and he'd already been exposed to what he was capable of. There was no way that Rush was going to tell him that he had no control of it.

"Very well, Doctor Perry," he said professionally. "I'll need a brief description of your condition prior to...er..." Mary was standing with her, so Rush knew she was in good hands. He stood carefully.

"I need a smoke," he said, limping towards the back door.

"Rumplestiltskin doesn't smoke," the doctor told him.

"Yes, but I do. What's it gonna do, kill me?" He grabbed the pad and headed for the door. It had been his idea, he reminded himself. Just his luck that this town was short on doctors.

 

Nicholas Rush stood before Gold's closet. The man appeared to live in suits, which wasn't him at all. That being said, he was taking Mandi out on a date, the first date he'd been on...well, since before Gloria got sick, and he'd not been on a first date since they'd met. He wasn't sure how to do this. He'd never been good at that sort of thing. His wife had pursued him.

_Perhaps this is a bad idea, he thought. What was I thinking?_

_That Mandi deserved a proper date, some courting, rather than just falling into bed?_

"Belle likes the dark red one, if that helps?" Bae's voice came from behind him. "Door was open." The young man gestured behind him. "Came to see if you needed anything before I went home." Clearly the lad knew what was going on. Damned town.

"I've not done this in a while," he admitted.

"Well, if you're looking for something casual, you're looking in the wrong closet. Hell, you're looking in the wrong house. Papa has always dressed the best he could." Rush just nodded, still looking at the closet as if something would jump out at him. Around here, he wasn't willing to completely discount the possibility. This was awkward, and it wasn't going to get any less. Just because everyone knew he wasn't Gold, didn't mean it wasn't going to be strange for people to see 'Gold' out with a woman not his wife. Still, Bae seemed to be accepting it well enough.

"I..." he started, feeling like he should say something. The boy wasn't his son. Hell, he wasn't even a boy but...

"It's okay, Rush," he said, almost as if he understood. "You guys are still getting yourselves straight. This has been crazy, even for this place. Care for a suggestion?"

Rush gestured for him to go ahead.

"Granny's. It's casual, so no pressure, and the food's good. She makes a mean lasagna, though Papa hates it. Plus, if anyone gives you a problem, Ruby'll run them out."

"Thank you. I take it you speak from experience?"

"Not a lot of places in town, but yes. It's where I took Emma while we were getting ourselves straightened out. It's where Papa took Belle on their first real date, too."

"So a good track record then."

 

Mandi was waiting for him downstairs and Rush was instantly glad he had taken Bae's advice on the shirt, and that he'd bothered to shave. She looked lovely in a dress of deep green. He couldn't have said what the style was, he knew nothing about fashion, but it flattered her figure, and fell to her knee. She was also wearing stockings or tights and shoes with a little heel. She was gorgeous.

"Well, you two had better get going. I won't wait up," Mary said, practically shoving them out the door.

Rush offered her the arm not busy with his cane. "I think she thinks, I'm up to something," he said after the door had closed behind them.

"She's hoping. She bought us a box of condoms this afternoon, just in case. Thought you might find it uncomfortable." Now Rush was thankful for the dark, because he was fairly certain that he was blushing for the first time in twenty or more years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, as usual for keeping up with this. I hope you enjoy this little side track, but I needed Rush to get some information, and let's face it, even sharing his head, Rumple's not very forth coming. Enjoy. Sorry, no Telford torture in this chapter, but a little hint as to who is how. Please keep the comments coming.


	47. Awkward conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush and Mandi try a date and Telford thinks he has a clue.

"Do you mind walking?" Rush asked. Mandi had borrowed a coat from Belle's closet. It fit well enough and was only a little too short.

"No, not at all, I want to walk everywhere right now, but are you sure?" she asked, looking at the cane.

"I'll be fine. It's probably safer, I've not driven in a while and I'm not certain I want to try it with the leg. Dove offered to drive us, but..."

"But you'd rather we didn't have a chaperone? What did you have in mind?"

"Do I need one?' he teased.

"I think we're better off without," she said before turning and kissing him. Rush stopped. It was going to take time for him to become accustomed to spontaneous affection, or even casual touch again, but he returned the kiss with pleasure, especially as he was certain that it was better here, on this quiet residential street, than in town, where everyone could see them. It was still somewhat awkward. Then he broke away gently. They were going to have to discuss exactly what where they were going, in the immediate sense, and sometime soon. Unfortunately, he had never been one to talk about emotional things and the awkwardness wasn't likely to go away at his age. "Mandi..." he started. _God, I'm rubbish at this,_ he thought miserably. "Where do you want tonight to end?" he asked, trying to sound casual about it, and praying he didn't sound as much like an adolescent as he thought he did.

"Where I want to end up is in bed with you, Nick," she said honestly. "Even if it's just to sleep. but I know that you might..." she paused. "I think that you are concerned. You aren't rushing me, you know. I've wanted to be with you, completely with you, for a long time. But you..."

"Are having a little trouble adjusting? I just want to make sure that you are serious. I wouldn't want to jeopardize our friendship or anything else that we might..."

"If this magic, or whatever it is wears off..."

"It won't," he reassured her.

"But if it did, I would at least have memories." Her sincerity was unmistakable, as was her certainty. The only thing that had slowed them earlier was her concern about his body, not any real reluctance on her part, but he'd been brooding on it. That, he was good at. Of course, Miss Swan's intervention had put the brakes on, which Rush admitted, they had needed.

"Let us see how things go, shall we?" he replied. It wasn't necessarily the answer that either of them wanted, but there was more to this conversation that needed to be had, and as they reached Main Street, it wasn't the time. Rush took a deep breath and led her into downtown Storybrooke.

 

Granny's Diner was about half full when they opened the door and walked in. Instantly the conversation stopped. Everyone was looking at them, not necessarily hostile, but definitely curious.

"Come on in," Ruby said, grabbing a couple of menus. "Nothing to see here, folks, go back to what you were doing," she addressed the rest of the customers, as she led them to a back booth. "Sorry about that. It's just with everything that's happening, you know? You must be Doctor Perry, I'm Ruby Lucas. Hope this is okay with you. It's Gold and Belle's usual table."

"It's fine," Rush said. Ruby went off to get their drinks, but clearly peace and privacy were not on the menu, at least not yet.

"Hello." Mary Margaret and her husband came over to the table. "I hope that everything is going well? I'm Mary Margaret," she introduced herself. "And this is my husband, David.

"Doctor Amanda Perry," Rush said, performing the introductions. The faster they were done, the faster they would get back to their...well, date. "This is Regina's stepdaughter," he explained. It wasn't the best way to do it, but he was still having trouble addressing them by their fairytale names.

"So that makes you..." Mandi said, then stopped.

"Snow White, yes. It's okay, I understand this might be a little hard to accept. I'm also Emma Swan's mother, and Henry's grandmother." Mandi's eyes shot up, but Rush shook his head with that 'I'll explain later' look.

"We just wanted to say hello, and see that everything was going well," David added.

"Fine," Rush said, hoping they would get the hint and leave. "Gold and Belle are holding their own on Destiny and soon we will all be back where we belong."

Ruby brought their drinks and the royal couple moved off to talk to some of the other people.

"Wow," Mandi said. "That was...well, she does look like... Can you explain how Emma is their daughter? Or do fairytale characters just age differently?"

"Not exactly and I'm not clear on the details. Gold doesn't age, as near as I can tell. You heard what Archie said. That part is definitely true, at least from my memories. The rest is a lot more confusing."

"More confusing than meeting bits of my childhood? But yes, he said something about a curse, I didn't think I should ask at the time."

"The curse is how they are here, it brought them from...well, another world, but not another planet. It brought the whole fairy tale lot of them."

"So that was Snow White and Prince Charming, Regina's the evil Queen, and Archie is..."

"Jimminy Cricket, yes. Ruby is little Red Riding Hood, and I've seen the hood. But she also happened to be some kind of werewolf."

"Seriously? And Gold is Rumplestiltskin, so who is Belle?"

"Exactly who she sounds like. Apparently Rumplestiltskin is also the Beast."

"Hmmm, don't look like a beast to me, unless, like Archie..."

"Think more scaly than furry, though the images are a little fuzzy. He wasn't keen on mirrors." It was nice, this. He'd been a little concerned that without talking about work, they wouldn't be able to talk, but so far, so good.

"Ready to order?" This time it was the older woman, Mrs. Lucas. "Hamburger with extra pickles?" she suggested.

"I don't think so. How about the lasagna? I've been told that it's good."

"Well, Gold doesn't like it, but as you're not him..."

"No, I'm not," he told her emphatically. She nodded.

"Mrs, Lucas. Though most people call me Granny," she introduced herself to Mandi. The scientist was having a bit of trouble with deciding and kept going back and forth over the menu.

"I want to try everything," she told the older woman.

"Best start easy," the old wolf (for wolf she was, Rush could smell it, just as he could with Ruby, but fainter), suggested. "And save room. I've got a fresh chocolate cake for desert." Then, she too left them alone.

For a moment there was silence. _It used to be so easy,_ he thought. But of course back then there were no expectations, no pressure. Mandi looked at him, studying him carefully.

"Penny for 'em," he asked.

"Just wondering about the differences. You look so very much like...well, like you."

"It is a little unnerving, that's for sure," he agreed. "Especially because most of the differences are very small, barring the age."

"No tattoos?" she asked, smiling.

"Not a one. The scars are different, and I'll warn you now, my leg, his leg...it's not a pretty sight, love. If..." he said slightly self consciously. He had to wonder if it was something he'd picked up from his time sharing with Rumplestiltskin. He'd never been a particularly modest man, nor a vain one. He'd tended to a view his body as a necessary nuisance. But the man who had shared his head was a different matter. Rumplestiltskin was a man, well, an imp, with a certain number of doubts, at least about his body.

"It doesn't matter to me. No pressure, right?" she said, reaching across the table to take his hand. "So, want to tell me about what you said this morning? I have a feeling there is a story there."

"What did I say?" he asked.

"Something to do with everyone wearing clothes?"

 

David Telford woke again in the hospital bed. This time his head was fuzzy, and when he tried to move, he found himself restrained, padded cuffs around his wrists and ankles. Instantly he began to struggle.

"That's enough of that. You're fine," a nurse was looking down at him, at least he thought it might be a nurse. Though he didn't remember nurses wearing green. Did he have to have surgery? He couldn't remember exactly. Tracking back, he remembered speaking to Rush, and those two women, the ones with all the talk about fairytales. No, that couldn't be right, could it? Rush was a man of science. He didn't believe in magic anymore than Telford did.

"Free me?" he asked the nurse or whoever she was.

"I can't do that. You were a bit...distressed, earlier. It's all right, that's a perfectly reasonable reaction," she assured him. "But for now, you should rest."

"Reasonable reaction to what?" he asked. He could remember arguing with Rush, something about his memory and then...Then the bed was bigger than he was. Suddenly he was in an Alice in Wonderland nightmare where everything was bigger than he was and everything felt...different, he couldn't feel his hands or his...something had happened. It had to be drugs, they were giving him some kind of hallucinogen, that had to be it. It was the only thing that made sense. But how? Surely Ruby hadn't just randomly drugged him? Why would she? What was it about this town? His thoughts tumbled over one another.

"To your accidental...transformation," the blond told him, cheerily. "But it's okay now. You just get some sleep, and when you wake up, we will start working on those burns."

"Transformation?"

"Snail," she replied. "It happens, well it used to happen more often, but Belle doesn't approve. It used to be Rumplestiltskin's thing, but I suppose it's like muscle memory. My name is Tink, I'll be taking care of you."

"Snail?" he said. No, this was not happening, that was for damn sure. But for now, he would stay quiet. All he needed to do was play along, at least until he could find a way to escape this nightmare and make a phone call. Then he would bring it all down. Patience. "I don't really remember."

"Probably better that way. They had to sedate you after they got you back to normal. It shouldn't have taken that long, but then Dr. Rush isn't Rumplestiltskin. Now, you should rest. Are you in pain, I can get the nurse."

"No...no more drugs. Head's not feeling right," David said mussily. He had to avoid them giving him anything else. But for now, he'd just close his eyes. Maybe she would leave and he could get loose. He closed his eyes and was asleep again in moments.

 

The rest of dinner managed to pass quickly enough. Once they got past the initial awkwardness, the fact that he'd not dated in years, and Mandi admitted that she never had, touching for just a moment on a subject that he had no clue how to bring up, it was as if no time had passed. Instead, they finished and left the diner, holding hands like a couple of teens and chatting comfortably.

"So, where to now?" he asked. I think the nightlife of Storybrooke is limited to the diner and that one dive bar at the end of the street, or..."

"How about we go back to the house," she suggested.

 _There it is, your opening. Awkward conversation time, but best here were no one can overhear,_ he thought. This morning they had both been acting on instinct, but he wasn't willing to do that, not when it was this important.

"Mandi, I've no good way of asking this. It's just...it's been a while for me, I'll not lie, not since Gloria died and you..."

"You want to know if I'm a virgin?" she asked, stopping.

"I...Well, I thought we ought best discuss..." She leaned over and kiss him, long and slow, effectively derailing whatever he was thinking of saying.

 _'Probably would have made a hash of it anyway,_ ' his rational mind whispered, before wandering off in favour of the warm, beautiful woman in his arms.

"It's very sweet of you, Nick. I appreciate that you are trying to do the right thing."

"I don't want to hurt you," he told her. "Just because we both want this doesn't mean we have to..."

"I know what I want and despite my lack of actual experience, I do know what I'm getting into. I trust you. Isn't that all that we need?"

"Let's go back," he said. Of course she did, when had she ever not known? She was one of the most brilliant women, hell, people, he had ever known. Besides, as much as he hated to admit that the imp was right, even he could feel it. This was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. This has been a really awkward part not just to plan but to write. There are just some subjects that are never easy. Please enjoy, comment and all that. It will make me feel better about it and keep me going. To the question, is the rating about to go up? The answer is...we'll see. It depends. But then what could possible happen walking from Granny's? Of course, this is Storybrooke.


	48. Unexpected Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surpise visit answers some questions.

The two of them returned to the house, though not particularly quickly, as they stopped to kiss. Touch, reassurance, these were things they both needed, or at least Rush knew he did. It kept the brooding, worrying voices at bay. The decision was the easy part, but now in the back of his mind, other things were starting to crop up. Short of his little refresher course courtesy of Rumplestiltskin (and that he'd been trying to pretend wasn't happening) it had been a while. He didn't want to disappoint Mandi, not when it was so very important. They paused in the driveway, next to the big Cadillac for another long slow kiss.

"Are you..." he started, not exactly sure what he intended to ask, when her hands found their way into his hair. How had he forgotten exactly how arousing he had always found that? More, how had Mandi known? He moaned softly against her lips. "Best take this in before we traumatise the neighbours," he whispered. He started to fumble for Gold's keys, while trying not to let go of Mandi's hand or lose the blasted cane, when something struck him. Something was wrong. The security light hadn't come on.

Rush paused and looked up at the house. The kitchen light was on, no surprise, except that he had expected that Mary had taken herself to bed for the night. Instantly he was on alert. Mandi looked at him, but he put a finger to his lips and moved closer to the porch. No one was expected, there were no cars in the driveway other than the van and Gold's land yacht, but that wasn't it entirely. He felt something he couldn't put a name to. Wards. That was the word. Regina had explained them to him, though he didn't exactly understand at the time. But now he knew, someone was in the house that shouldn't be. He snapped out of his haze of desire like the slamming of a bulkhead.

Then he saw the door. It was not completely closed. Yes, Storybrooke was safe and yes, during the day, the door had been left unlocked. With people coming and going it was no surprise. But it had been closed when they left that night, and he distinctly remembered Mary locking it behind them. Rush pushed Mandi carefully back into the shadows. Something was very wrong, and he wasn't sure exactly what to do about it. Telford was in the hospital and didn't have magic in any case and he was certain this was something to do with magic. As far as he knew Rumplestiltskin's enemies, barring the dragon, were either not in this world or, like Regina, they had settled their differences. So that left an unknown, possibly the one that was responsible for the current situation.

Rush held a finger to his lips and Mandi nodded. He fished out Rumplestiltskin's cell phone, pressed it into her hands, and gestured for her to stay put, safely hidden from the door by the log store. He wanted her in a position to run if necessary. It could be nothing, but they had just found each other and he wasn't about to risk her in any way, not now, not ever.

Carefully he made his way onto the porch, his cane sounding loud and harsh in the quiet. He pushed the door open and stepped into the kitchen. He saw Mary almost immediately, sitting at the table looking terrified. Then he turned. The person was a woman, that much he recognised, that and the deadly looking gun clutched in one hand.

"Come in Rumplestiltskin, and bring your little friend with you. Didn't take you long to get over the loss of your beloved wife, now did it? Come on, girl, come in here before..." The woman gestured with the gun for him to move to the table, and looked out. But the porch was empty.

 

Mandi hadn't waited long. When she heard the strange voice, she was off. She hated leaving Nick alone, and she was terrified for him, and for Mary. But she was also practical. Nick had magic, even if it was unpredictable, and from everything they had heard, his body was essentially immortal, not that she really wanted to test that theory. She also knew that he would do anything to protect her, and if she stayed she was a potential hostage, whereas, free, she could get help.

She went down the driveway and into the next door neighbour's yard, darting behind a hedge for cover and continuing on. Mandi knew she wasn't strong yet, so she needed some distance, to get far enough and some place safe enough to call Emma, and Regina, and whoever else she could possibly call.

 

"Where is she?" the woman screeched, turning the gun towards Mary.

"Where is who?" he asked. Rush knew he needed to play for time. It wan't actually the first time someone had pointed a gun at him.

"The girl, the one that you left with. I've never known you to be so attached to having a woman in your bed before, Rumple, but I suppose things do change."

She thought he was Rumplestiltskin. That meant that she hadn't been around town, which, looking at her was unsurprising. She looked like she had been hiding out somewhere. In addition to the fact that her black dress was torn and dirty, the hand not holding the gun was in a bad way. The unknown woman, witch, whatever, was holding it close to her body and it was wrapped in something, possibly a strip torn from the dress, and it looked none too clean. "I think not. If you are referring to the young woman who was here earlier, dearie," he said, hoping he could play the imp well enough for the moment. How hard could it be? "She's hardly what you suggest. She's...well, it's just a little deal. Now, what do you think you are going to do with that gun exactly? I'm immortal, remember?" He was taking a chance with that. She obviously knew him and from the condition of her hand, he was now willing to bed that she was the unknown assailant in the woods.

"The bullets are coated in dreamshade. It might kill you, it might not, but it would definitely incapacitate you. Your magic took a hit in the woods, just as mine did. Besides, I could kill her," she said, waving the gun at Mary. "Now, where is the girl?"

Rush thought fast. He had to keep the mad woman talking, give Mandi time to get the cavalry, and perhaps figure out who the hell she was and why she was after him, or rather Rumplestiltskin. He knew some things. While he wasn't certain what 'dreamshade' was, it didn't sound like a good thing. She knew Rumplestiltskin and expected him to know her, unsurprising as he seemed to know everyone. She didn't know who he really was, and she assumed that the...what was it that the sorcerer had called it? Magical backlash, had killed Belle, and reduced his powers. According to Regina she certainly hadn't left with hers intact. At least, he assumed firearms weren't a normal part of these sorts of encounters. Fireballs, yes. Rush could also feel the magic creeping under his skin, responding to his emotions, as he tried to keep it down. The last thing he needed was to lose control now, especially when he didn't know what the results would be. Getting shot wasn't anywhere on the list of things he wanted to do tonight or ever.

"You should know, dearie, I don't discuss my...deals. Now, what is it that you want?" he asked, lowering his voice. "When two people want something.... Mary is a nurse, perhaps she could take a look at your hand? How about that for a start?"

"You know what I want Rumple, what I have always wanted."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to apologise in advance. I know this is short. I have had a seriously awful week and all my writing time has been eaten up dealing with the stupidity of others. Thank you for being understanding. Please read and respond and I hope that tomorrow i will actually get this finished.


	49. Of Tea and Side Tables

 

"Are you certain that you should be wasting magic like this?" Belle asked, as she eyed the steaming pot and two cups on the stand beside the bed.

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "It's a small enough matter. We have some time, and I am just...you might say stretching my muscles for lack of a better analogy. Rush actually has the capacity for magic in him, interestingly enough, if only he knew how to use it. I am a bit curious about that part, but it will make this whole thing easier. Besides, if I don't get a decent cup of tea, I may very well do something unfortunate to someone. That rubbish that they use as coffee..." He shuddered.

"I have been dreaming of a cup of tea," Belle admitted as she sat down and reached for the pot. After all, if Rumple said it was safe, then who was she to argue. She'd wanted some tea badly as well. Not that there weren't plenty of things from back home she missed, but tea was pretty far up the list. There were so many things that she was looking forward to as soon as they got back home, including spending time alone with her husband. Even in Storybrooke, there were times that they just wanted one another. Belle was much more social than her husband, not that it was hard to be, but she would never be as much of a social butterfly as Snow, or even Ruby. But here they were a novelty, and while they had been spending a good bit of their time in their quarters, it wasn't as if they could be there all the time.

"And perhaps this?" he asked, as with a familiar flourish, he pulled a book out of thin air. Belle sighed contentedly and reached for her husband.

"Come, have a cup of tea, and maybe I'll read to you," she suggested. Rumplestiltskin sank down onto the bed. He didn't need to be told twice.

 

Rush didn't know exactly what to say. He was dredging through what he remembered from his time sharing with Rumplestiltskin, but frankly, there was a lot there, and the imp had been better at controlling what he could see, so he shared little of it. Considering his age, it was probably best that way. It didn't help. What he needed was to stall long enough for Amanda to get help without getting anyone shot in the process, or him losing control of the magic and doing something unfortunate. The question was, should he try to play up to her, or pretend he didn't remember her (not that he did), and try to make her angry enough to make a mistake and maybe attack him? His experience with Telford this afternoon convinced him that the magic would defend him, if he let it. It wasn't very helpful. Bluffing, he could manage that. "I believe that you wanted several things," he said. "But that was another place and another time. Things change."

"Yes, they do. You rejected me before, and ended up with that little librarian. But since I can't have your heart, I will settle for something just as dear, possibly more...Tell me, Rumplestiltskin, who is this woman to you?" she asked, gesturing towards where Mary was white lipped at the end of the table.

"Her?" he asked, trying to think fast. Clearly this woman hadn't been paying too much attention to the house, or she would have known, about Mandi, even about him. The couple of magical accidents would have shown her that he wasn't Rumplestiltskin. Probably her injuries had kept her hiding for a while. "She was here to attend to the woman you saw earlier. She and I have a deal as well. As I said, she could take a look at your arm. Mary," he said.

"I don't need a nurse, I need power. Do you see what you have done?" she said, pointing to the pendant around her neck. There was a stone, what looked like some kind of smoky quartz, or would, was it not cracked straight down the middle. "And once I have what I need, you are going to fix it for me. No, you are going to make it even better once your powers come back. But first I need to know where it is, where is your dagger, Rumplestiltskin?"

 

Once she had gotten far enough away, or what she thought was far enough away, she had called 911 and then scrolled through and found the number for Regina. That Rush hadn't come back out, meant that there was trouble, and while she wasn't exactly sure what it was, the man she loved and her very best friend were in that house and Amanda wanted all the help she could get. Seconds later, Regina had appeared at her side in a swirl of red smoke that startled her. By the side of the sorceress was a man with a bow slung over his shoulder.

"What's happened?" the queen demanded.

"I don't know, Nick saw something wrong or felt something. He went in himself. Mary is in there as well. He gave me his cell phone and I ran." As she was explaining, a yellow Volkswagon bug pulled up, and Emma Swan jumped out accompanied by the man that she had been introduced to earlier as Mr. Gold...er... Rumplestiltskin's son, and Emma's husband.

"What's up?" Emma said. "Hey Robin. I'm guessing Roland is better?"

"Yes," the man with Regina responded. "John is with him."

 _Robin, with a bow? Couldn't be,_ Mandi thought to herself. But in Storybrooke, she wouldn't have put a bet on it either way.

"Good, want to tell me what's going on?" she asked Mandi.

"I was just explaining. I think...I think there is someone in the house...well, I know there is someone in the house, actually. Something is wrong." It didn't really take a lot of explanation. That she was out here with his cell and Rush was inside was a pretty good indicator that something was wrong. The scientist was pretty sure that half the town had seen them out together. This wasn't the end to her date night that she had planned.

"Okay, so what are we going to do?" Emma asked. "Regina, can you do something to figure out who is in there?"

"We'll have to get closer. I can move freely in and out of Rumple's wards because he allows it. If it were another magic user, they would be turned back," she explained. "Unless..."

"Unless it's the one that attacked him in the woods, you said they had not walked away with their magic," Emma nodded speaking out loud. "So if he is in there with a powerless magic user, he's either been overwhelmed or they have some other way of controlling him. Your friend, Mary, she was inside as well, right?"

"Yes, she said she was going to relax. She thought that Nick and I..." Mandi blushed just a little.

"I think we all know what she was thinking," Regina said sharply. "Don't need the details." The dark haired woman shuddered just a little.

"So what we have is Rush, who may or may not be in control of his magic, Mary, and person or persons unknown. What we need is a plan," Emma said.

 

"What exactly makes you think that I can or would give you what you want?" Rush said, hoping that he didn't have to continue talking much longer. He was not Rumplestiltskin, he wasn't accustomed to twisting people in knots with words. If someone didn't understand, he usually just told them to sod off.

Before she could answer, there was a harsh buzz as the front doorbell rang. They all froze. "Who are you expecting?" the witch asked.

"At this hour? No one, certainly not without calling first. Probably Charming with some annoying problem that he deems important enough to take up my time without waiting for morning. No point in not answering, dearie. He'll just keep at it. Persistent, these heroes." As if to make his point, the bell rang again, this time accompanied by a voice calling his name.

"Rumplestiltskin, come on, it's important. Open up," the voice was actually familiar, but it wasn't Charming. Of course, she didn't need to know that.

"Well?" he asked, eyeing her.

"Well what?"

"He's just going to keep at it." He watched the witch contemplate. "Tick tock, dearie."

"Answer it," she said, waving the gun awkwardly. He wondered idly what she actually knew about firing a gun. She didn't seem particularly easy with it. Either that or she was using her off hand, possibly both. It didn't make him feel any better. Nothing more dangerous than a gun in the hands of someone who had no idea how to use it. "But I will be watching you, and her."

"What makes you think I care about her?" he sneered, but moved obediently toward the front of the house, leaning heavily on his cane.

"And you," she said to Mary. "Move one inch and I will shoot him first and you second. You might be lucky, but I doubt it." Mary just nodded as the woman followed him out.

"Coming," he called out, before Bae could knock again. He was certain that the sheriff had a plan, or Gold's son wouldn't be ringing the bell. He hoped that it didn't involve anyone getting shot, but at least now they were away from Mandi's friend. "What did you want at this hour? It better be important, dearie," he said, hoping it sounded better than he thought it did. The witch was standing behind him near the opening between the living room and the entry.

"There is something happening, something with...Maleficent."

"Oh, that's..." he wasn't sure how he should react. It was a trap of course. The dragon was still a dragon and still down in the mines.

"I think not," the witch said, stepping forward into the doorway. "You, you can come in too. Another hostage on his good behavior. Positively domestic, Rumple," she said cuttingly. "Now..."

At that moment, several things happened. There was a swish as an arrow flew through the open door and struck the witch's hand. The gun flew away, but not before it went off, and Bae grabbed Rush and threw him to the floor.

The witch ran, apparently going for the back of the house now that her weapon was gone, probably moving for Mary, followed by Bae. Rush dragged himself up to follow a little more slowly. His leg hadn't taken the fall very well. When that was added to his nerves and the magic coursing restlessly beneath his skin, he leaned on the side of everyone's safety.

Back in the kitchen, he found Emma, Regina, and Mandi. The witch was held in some kind of magic bonds and spitting mad.

"What do you think you can do with me? My magic will come back," she threatened.

"Not bad," Emma said. "Though you should probably do something about that table. Did you know it could move on its own? We got Mary clear, then she came flying out the door and it tripped her."

"Well, it wasn't where I left it, but I assumed someone else had moved it," he said as Mandi flew into his arms. He held her close, glad that she was safe. Mary was putting on the kettle for tea, her hand only shaking a little. "More to the point, what just happened?"

"I've got one for you, who the hell is she?" Emma asked. "And what am I going to do with her?"

"I'd start wit' the hospital and then jail," he suggested. "Now..."

"All wrapped up," another man stepped out of the shadows, a bow slung over his shoulder. "Not a bad shot if I do say so myself. I don't believe we've met, I'm Robin Hood."

"You...how dare..." the woman was sputtering mad. "Rumplestiltskin, you wouldn't..."

"Not sure what he would or wouldn't do. But, I'm not him. Suggest you tell these ladies what they want to know."

"Oh, she will," Regina said. "I'm certain I can find Rumple's truth potion down in the work room. He still organises things the same way. Answers first, then the hospital."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thank you for your patience. My writing time was eaten by a shit show I am involved in. But I am hoping to actually take time away from it, before I start actually chewing on people instead of metaphorically. Please enjoy, read, comment, and all that sort of thing.


	50. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The identity of the Witch is revealed.

It was only the work of moments, but Regina and Robin (something they were still have a little trouble accepting, though around here, who knew), had the unknown woman in a chair. Mary went and got her medical bag and began attending to her wounds.

The one hand was only barely injured. "I was just trying to make her drop the gun," Robin told them. "These firearms are a nasty business, no skill required." He seemed to be bemoaning the incompetence of the modern criminal.

The other hand, that was a different matter. It was burnt, none too clean, and infection had set in. "It's a miracle she hasn't developed gangrene," Mary said before beginning the cleaning. "You are lucky."

"I..." the witch started, but the caregiver efficiently stuffed a thermometer in her open mouth before she could say anything.

"Now, you keep that there 'til it beeps, or I'll get one of these good people to hold it there for you. I'm not really fond of being held at gunpoint, so I have no issue with having them do it."

While Mary was tending to the patient, Regina slipped below stairs to find the truth potion. "He keeps a smallish workroom here. Most of it is at the shop though," she explained. "Belle prefers his experiments where they don't endanger the house. Back in our world, his laboratory was in its own tower, so if he blew something up, it wasn't a danger to the rest of the place." It didn't take long before she returned with a small bottle. "Found it," she said as she rejoined them.

Bae left and returned a few moments later, putting a couple of glasses of whiskey on the table. Rush grabbed one. He needed a drink. Going from being wrapped up with a special lady to being held at gunpoint wasn't his idea of the right way to end the evening, especially when there was a special woman involved. "How are you going to get her to take it though?" he asked.

"Easy enough," Regina said, stalking towards her determinedly. She reached out and pinched the woman's injured hand.

"Owwwweuuuughhh." the witch gurgled, but Emma reached out and held her mouth closed. She gurgled, a little but finally swallowed.

"There, just like dosing a horse," Regina said. "Not much difference, really."

"How dare you? Who do you think you are? I was the better student. I..."

"Let's start with a name," Emma said, pulling her notebook out. "I have to have something to put on the charge sheet."

"Zelena," the woman said. "daughter of Cora. I was Rumplestiltskin's apprentice."

"My mother had no other daughters, you can't..."Regina said indignantly. "How..."

"Why, I'm your older sister, Regina, and clearly our mother did her best the first time around." The woman smiled or it might have been a smile on someone else. On Zelena it looked more like a grimace. "I never understood what it was Rumple saw in you. I was always better, I could have been so much. But he left me behind. I could..."

"Enough," Rush said. He really didn't want to hear any of this family squabble. "Were you the one that attacked the Golds in the forest?"

"Yes," she responded, biting the words off, but she couldn't not answer, that was the truth potion.

"Why?" he asked, slamming the glass down on the table in frustration.

"Power, of course," she said. "I needed to get his dagger. With the dagger, I could control the Dark One and he would be forced to do my bidding. Then I would rule, I would take everything away from you, sister dear."

"But you weren't strong enough for that, now where you?" Regina snapped back. "What happened? You thought that silly wand that you stole from some fairy or other would give you an advantage? Or were you planning to go after Belle? Probably best you didn't, or we would not have found you, or not in that form."

"He would never have done that, not to me, not over that...girl. I was his best student, not you. You got everything, the title, our mother, and then..." she was spitting venom, anger and madness oozing from her.

Regina looked at her and laughed. "You think you had any chance? Hardly. So you attacked him in the woods, but he hit your little wand, blew it up, and the source of you power. You are lucky to be alive. For now."

"As much as I hate to interrupt," Mary said. "She probably should be gotten to a hospital. Despite the threatening, she does need actual medical attention. Not that they can probably do much with her other arm, I'd be surprised if they didn't have to amputate."

"This is all very nice," Rush said. "But I think that it's time you dealt with her, and not in this kitchen. So if you will pardon me...Get out!"

Rush stood on the back porch having a last smoke, looking out on the garden. The table had returned to its corner. He patted the surface slightly, making certain that no one saw it. Rush had decided he was rather fond of his mistake, now. Of course, Rumplestiltskin would be able to change it back, but he was privately hoping he wouldn't. Who knew, perhaps Henry would want to keep it as a pet, it wasn't as if it was like to soil the carpet. Besides, furniture didn't require a pet deposit. Still, that was a thought for later. It had taken longer than he would have liked to rid the house of everyone. Emma called the ambulance, and they loaded the woman, cursing and screaming all the way, while Bae had followed in the car. Regina and Robin had left...he wasn't exactly sure where they had gone, or how, but she had assured them that it would be almost impossible for Zelena's magic to ever come back. "Or at least not until after Rumple is back in his body. No offense, but you are hardly the expert we need." He'd heartily agreed.

Rush turned and started back in. His plans for the night had been ruined. Certainly Amanda would hardly be in the mood to continue where they had been interrupted, not tonight. But that didn't mean she wouldn't be waiting for him upstairs, to curl up with him and take comfort in the fact that they had both come through without a scratch. Well, they had. There was that bullet hole in the wall that someone would have to explain to Rumplestiltskin, but that wasn't his job.

Besides, there was always tomorrow, or tomorrow night. There was a small part of him that was impatient. After all, it had been a while, but waking up with her had reminded him of a lot of things he thought he had forgotten. Of course, they could wait until they were both safe on Destiny, when he was back in his own body. Then he wouldn't be trying to worry about his rusty skills and working around Gold's bad leg. On the other hand, Rush wasn't certain he wanted to wait any longer than absolutely necessary.

"Nick, are you going to stay out there all night?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. I'm afraid this is a bit short, but all the stress finally resulted in a cold, so I'm not getting as much done as I wanted. Please read, review and all those lovely things and take pity on the poor sick writer :)


	51. Another Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interesting problem arises.

 

 

 

Once again, Nicholas Rush woke to a beautiful woman wrapped around him and once again his early morning plans were interrupted by Sheriff Emma Swan. By the time they had made their way to bed, they had both been tired. The adrenaline spike from the attack had left them both weak. Their plans for the evening had been reduced to a sleepy kiss and cuddle before falling asleep in one another's arms.

"Rush, come on out. We've got to talk."

The scientist swore softly under his breath before extracting himself from a sleepy Mandi, who murmured something vaguely intelligible. "You don't need to get up, sweetheart. Why don't you get some more sleep," he whispered into her hair.

"No, I want to get up. I need to build up my strength, you all keep telling me this. While you were gone yesterday, Mary and I walked part of the way down the forest trail. I think we are going to try the other path today."

"After breakfast," he told her before slipping out of the bed. He had to admit, while he wouldn't miss Gold's body or at least his bad leg, there were a few things he was going to miss. Getting woken up by Emma Swan was not among them, but the smell of bacon frying was definitely one of them.

"Bacon," Mandi said, hurrying up from where they had been sleeping.

Rush took his turn in the bathroom, not quite ready to change in front of Mandi. That she would see him naked, that she wanted to see him naked, that he was sure of. But not like this, not hurrying around, preparing to start the day with an impatient law enforcement officer waiting downstairs. He wasn't entirely sure how Emma Swan felt about he and Mandi, after all, Gold was her father in law, not her father, and Bae certainly had no reservations, or if he did, he made no mention last night. In fact, he'd been helpful. Of course, normal here, much like normal on Destiny, was something very different from the rest of the world. And while the witch, Zelena, was at least theoretically locked up, there were probably still things that needed doing before they made the final step back into his real life. He would like to run some tests, try to figure out exactly what magic was and how it worked, but Rush wasn't certain there was going to be time.

Realising that he was taking time that could be better spent handling whatever latest disaster had to be dealt with, he finished up. Soon, soon he would be back in a world he understood full of science and numbers, not magic and...dragons.

Rush slipped out of the bathroom and kissed Mandi on her way in. Then he headed down the stairs. In the kitchen, Mary had made herself at home, frying bacon and flipping pancakes while Emma Swan drank coffee at the counter.

"About time," the sheriff said impatiently.

"And a good morning to you too," Rush growled. "Can I at least get some coffee first?" The sheriff nodded, and he helped himself. He was going to miss it when he was back on Destiny. Actually, Rush wondered if there was a way to take a few things back, not much, just some coffee, instant but better than nothing. Then there were some other things, antibiotics, maybe some painkillers, but that was for later. After several good swallows, he set the cup down and waited.

"We need to go see Telford again," Emma said.

"Bloody hell. Why?"

"Not sure. I know he's tried to escape at least twice already."

"I told you he would have been less trouble if we'd left him as a snail. And I'd not have had to figure out how to get him back."

"You aren't wrong," the sheriff told him. "Problem is, Whale doesn't do snails or any other kind of invertebrates. But that's beside the point. I sent Tink over there to help with putting him back together. She wants to see us both."

"Why?" Rush asked her.

"Get some breakfast while you talk," Mary said, passing over a plate. Rush was an indifferent eater, but being saved from the endless monotone of protein powder porridge was enough to make him want to eat as many meals as he possibly could. "You too, sheriff. I made plenty."

Within a few minutes Mandi had joined them and they were all seated around the kitchen table with bacon and pancakes. "So what is wrong with Telford? I mean, beyond the usual."

"I'm not sure. Tink says that there is something strange about him, and no, I don't know what she means by that. I do remember that Regina thought the same thing though."

"Tink, as in Tinkerbell? Is she a fairy, like the blue fairy or...I don't know, are there different kinds of fairies?" Mandi asked.

"Well, that depends. She's a fairy, yes, and I think they are all the same kind. But that's about all she has in common with them. She doesn't live the the rest of them out at the convent. She spent a long time in Neverland, so she doesn't have Blue's..."

"Self righteousness?" Rush offered helpfully.

"Yeah, that too," Emma said before taking another bite.

"So....Tinkerbell?" Mandi asked.

"Yep."

"What about Captain Hook or..."

"Last I looked, Hook was down at the harbour, where the Jolly Roger is docked. His real name is Killian Jones, and before you ask, yes, he does have a hook. He got into an argument with Rumplestiltskin, which apparently was not all that uncommon."

"Not Peter Pan?" Mandi asked. They had learned a little bit about him yesterday, enough to know that he wasn't quite like the story.

"Not in the least. The less said about Pan the better, even though he's dead now. He was a twisted, evil, monster, and I've seen my share of monsters. But enough of this visit to the wonderful world of Disney. Finish up. Regina said she was going to meet us there. We need to figure out what is wrong with Telford once and for all."

 

Inside the hospital, they made their way to the room that had been assigned to Telford. Outside the room on guard duty, were Leroy and one of his other brothers (honestly, Rush tried not to think too hard about it). "Should have left him a snail," the dwarf told him. "Been easier. He's tried to cut himself free, pulled his IV out, damn nuisance."

"Telford has always been a nuisance," Rush told him.

"There you are," a young woman in a green dress slipped out of the room. "Sheriff, and you must be Doctor Rush." She reached out and shook his hand. "I'm Tinkerbell. Is Regina going to join us?"

"I'm here," the brunette said from the end of the hall. "What is all this? I've still got horses to tend, and of course Doctor Rush's magic lesson."

"I thought I was doing well."

"If, by doing well, you mean not blowing up the witch last night or turning Telford into a snail? That's one out of two. Not exactly a good record. Now, can we get on with this?"

"Regina, you have always been impatient," the blond said with a fond smile. "I've been here since last night. I've tended to some of the burns. You know how Doctor Whale feels about healing magics. But I know it's important to get him back in the state he started in. It's a completely different procedure than what Blue did for your friend. In some ways that's easier. He has a lot of scar tissue, past injuries that you don't want me to touch. That's not what you are here about. There is something wrong with that man. I'm not sure what it is, but he feels...wrong, like he is two different people, or specifically one on top of the other. You know, Regina."

"No, I agree with you," the former queen said. "There is something strange about him. How long have you known him?"

"I wouldn't say I knew the man, he's a pain in my arse, but he's not part of the science team. Telford has always been a military man. He came to Icarus after I did, he'd been on some kind of undercover assignment, some men were killed. Before that he used to be friends with Colonel Young, I think."

"What happened?" Emma asked. "And why the change in assignment? What is he supposed to be doing now?"

"How the hell should I know?" he asked. "I'm not his secretary, I don't keep his social calendar. The question is how are we going to figure out what's wrong with him, assuming it's anything. More truth potion?"

"No, I think we will need something a little different," Regina responded. "I think I've got an idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I know these have been a litle short and this really is just to clear up a little problem. But we will be back to the important stuff soon, I promise. Please read, review, all those sorts of things. Take pity on the poor sick writer :)


	52. Dealing with Traitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they find a solution for Telford, at least temporarily.

After their little impromptu conference, Rush had an idea of his own. While the magical contingent were off after whatever it was they went in for, he decided it was time to do a little digging of his own. It hadn't taken much to get him to a computer with a secure connection. He'd done a quick overview of Telford's files when he had been chosen to lead the team through to the ninth chevron location, but now he was looking for something specific, something that tugged at the edge of his memory, half heard and filed away. They kept saying he felt off, and with Rumplestiltskin's senses, he could feel it too. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but he definitely had an idea.

It took a couple of passes, but by the time they had been joined by what he was assured was another fairy, and Doctor Whale, he had at least part of an idea, more of a theory. What he didn't have was a way of proving it. But hopefully they would. His track record with magic was less that stellar. "Mr....er.... Rumplestiltskin told me when he first met Telford that something wasn't right about him," Rush told them. It was getting a little easier to say the name, though he didn't want to examine the why too closely. "I didn't much think about it at the time. I guessed that he was reacting to the fact that Telford was in another body, not to mention making himself as unpleasant as possible."

"That seems to be his natural state," Regina commented.

Rush ignored her and went on. "Now we have all had the same reaction, when he is actually in his own body."

"So you have an idea?" the sheriff asked.

"I think so, but I'm not certain what we can do about it, if I am right, and I usually am."

"Well, please do enlighten us, you know I haven't got all day," Regina remarked.

Rush thought about it a moment, how to explain alien science and tech to these people of magic. "In Telford's file, there was a mention of an undercover assignment that went wrong, several people were killed. I wouldn't have thought much about it, it does happen, were it not for the fact that the base was also attacked, a base no one should have known about. The people he was undercover with possess a kind of extreme brainwashing technique. It's extremely through and has been well documented. I'm wondering if that is the wrongness we are all sensing."

"It could be, I think, Purple?" Tink asked the other fairy. "This is why we asked her here, she is the fairy who is most experienced in the healing of the mind and memory."

"That could explain it," the other fairy confirmed. "If his mind and his memory have been tampered with already, whatever we do could fail or be ineffective. Which is why we need to know what we are dealing with."

"What have you done before to counteract it?" Doctor Whale asked, contributing for the first time.

"Ah, well, that's the tricky part you see. The programming is deeply embedded. Trying to break it...we have had them become violent, or even commit suicide. The only way that has been successful has been to take them to the edge of death, even over the edge," Rush told him.

"You are not killing my patient in order to save him," the doctor said emphatically. "Is there even a way to be certain he has been brainwashed?"

"We tried various ways, none of them are less than dangerous and would require getting equipment here that we don't necessarily want to explain. So..."

"I should be able to tell if his mind has been tampered with," the Purple Fairy (he really should ask if all fairies had colours rather than names, or all but Tinkerbell) told them. "That should be our first step. If it has been, then I can see what has been done and might be able to break it."

"Then let's get on with it. Is there are reason we all need to be here?" Emma asked. "I do have a job to do, you know."

"Yes, It may requires more than one kind of magic. Both you and Regina can use light magic, where as, even with his curse broken, Rumplestiltskin's magic does not react well with ours, and that would be if he was himself."

"Which I'm not," Rush added. "But if he is brainwashed and we can break it, what do we do then?"

"One thing at a time."

 

David Telford was in full restraints after his last attempted escape. He gave Rush a look of pure hatred. "This is all your doing, you bastard. You're enjoying this, aren't you? But just you wait, I'll get free, and when I'm done, they will have all of you locked up. You..."

"Not my doing," Rush told him with a smirk. "You are the one who insisted on coming here. I didn't make you do that, nor did I make you sneak down into the mines and get into an argument with a fire breathing dragon. But that is neither here nor there. Tell me, who was it that compromised you?" Rush asked.

The Purple Fairy stepped over beside the bed, while Tink went to the other side. Emma and Regina stayed with Rush, and Whale, ever the scientist, moved to a position where he could view the monitors. "I don't know what you are talking about," he spat. "I'm not the one consorting with aliens, drugging people, I..."

"He's lying," the Purple Fairy said. The light that burst from her wand took them by surprise. "Doctor Rush, keep him talking, the more you push him. The more his mind will try to skip away from what was done, and I might be able to do something."

"Who is it?" Rush asked. "My guess would be the Lucian Alliance. You were undercover with them for quite a while. It could be a renegade Goa'uld, but not even all the system lords had access to that tech."

"His pulse and blood pressure are rising," Whale said.

"What makes you think that I'm..."

"Because the other choice is that you are a voluntary traitor. I don't like you, I never have and I probably never will. You are a lot of things, a right bastard among them, but a traitor to your planet isn't one of them. Tell me, how many people did you get killed in the attack on Icarus?" he pressed. "People you knew and worked with. A mole is the only explanation. But you know that, don't you?"

"I was piloting an F-302, trying to save..."

"More like trying to die. You have a strong will, Telford, I'll give you that. Part of you, the real you, that is hiding in the back of your mind, that is appalled by what you were doing. That's the part that kept you away from the base, and away from the gate, just in case."

"Still rising, not sure how much more..." Telford was struggling against the restraints, one of them almost ripping free. Regina stepped closer and with a wave, he was immoble. "Hurry," she said.

"The real Telford was a friend of Colonel Young, not the man who would try to threaten his command. but you've been nothing but disruptive since Icarus. What is it, what changed?"

A change came over his face. They had definitely cracked something. "Do you think we are the heroes? We came in and destroyed a way of life that had existed for centuries, and then what? What did we leave behind? Nothing. Do you think that the Lucian Alliance is nothing but thieves and criminals? They stepped in to fill the vaccuum, this is their tech, not our...Ehhhhahhhhahahha." He ended with a shriek of pain.

"You have to stop, he's going to..." Whale shouted. Then, as suddenly as it started, it all stopped. Telford flopped bonelessly back onto the bed, eyes closed. The readings began dropping and the purple light from the wand ceased.

"There, when he wakes, he will be his own man again. The memory potion will also be safe to use, but you will have to find a way to explain this."

"I might have an idea about that," Rush said. "But I will need some help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient with me. Things have been pretty crazy here. Still, I hope this little update makes up for some of it and things should calm down from here on out, at least for a while. Please read, review, etc, it keeps the muse happy, and makes my day.


	53. Story Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jefferson gives them some background.

After some discussion between the fairies, Doctor Whale, Regina, and the sheriff, it was agreed that Telford should be kept sedated until they applied the memory potion. "I would normally object," the doctor told them. "But between the distress that he is bound to be suffering after the breaking of whatever that brainwashing was, and his repeated escape attempts, it is probably best. I will consult with Doctor Hopper of course, but at least for now, that is how we will proceed."

"Good. What about the other patient?" Emma asked.

"Ah, that is a different matter entirely. Frankly, that she survived this long is surprising. Systemic infection, third degree burns over most of her hand, and part of her forearm. She was probably still moving only by force of will. I don't know for certain, as I am a man of science, but that might be down to magic. While she is no longer able to access it, at some level, I think it changes the user. I've been meaning to pursue this line of experimentation if..." Whale was interupted, though Rush was actually interested in what he was saying.

"Bottom line, Whale. I've got a whole lot to do today," Emma Swan said.

"I'm pumping her full of antibiotics to try to kill the infection, hopefully enough to save the hand, or most of it. It might not be possible, and even if she gets to keep all or part of it, she will never have full use of it again. She is also sedated and restrained. I've asked the Blue Fairy to send someone over to give me some information. Miss Tinkerbell is busy tending Telford to get him ready in time."

"And it's not my field anyway," Tinkerbell said. "I mean, I've heard of injuries caused when a wand was broken or damaged by magic, but that was fairies. I'm out of my depth here."

"Okay, well keep me informed," the sheriff said, waving for Rush to join her. "I'll drop you back at the house."

"I'll be along when I've finished a few things," Regina told him. Moments later, they had said their goodbyes and Rush was once again in the front seat of the VW, riding back to the house that was not his.

When he arrived, he found that company had once more arrived in the form of the madman, Jefferson, wearing another, only slightly less offensive, waistcoat. He had settled himself into the kitchen with a cup of tea, apparently entertaining Mary and Mandi with a tale. "And then Cora, the Queen of Hearts, who happens to also be Regina's dear and unfortunately at the time not nearly departed enough mother, she orders...Oh, Rumple, or rather Rush, old man. Just telling these lovely ladies a little about how we got here."

For a moment, Rush felt an unfamiliar stab of jealousy. He had never considered himself a possessive man, to be honest. But there was Jefferson, handsome, young, if slightly eccentric, charming. Then he noticed something else and the monster of jealousy crept back into its cage, closing the door behind it. Jefferson was most definitely flirting, but not with Mandi, with Mary, and if he was any judge, which admittedly, he wasn't necessarily, she was responding to the attention. Interesting. "Ah, so what are you doing here, Jefferson?" he asked, shaking the proffered hand.

"Why lessons, of course. Didn't her former evilness tell you? We need to do a little practice, see how this is going to work."

"Ah, Regina will be here in a bit. I'm afraid that there was a bit of disruption last night."

"I heard. Zelena. I wonder how she got here. Last I knew she was in Oz," the hatter told them. "I told Rumple that she'd be a problem."

"So you know about her?" Rush asked. "Everyone else seemed to be unaware she even existed, including Regina, who is apparently her sister."

"She is from Oz? I thought that was just a..." Mandi started and then stopped. Having the Mad Hatter telling you about his adventures in Wonderland, she was starting to realise that things would never be as simple as she once thought them. Meanwhile, Nick sought and found a cup of coffee, and came to sit next to her, taking her hand.

"Let me try it this way," Jefferson said after thinking a moment. "There are many realms, some closer to one another, some further away. The Enchanted Forest is a very long way from here, but very close to Oz, and even to Wonderland, though it's not a place I would recommend visiting. I don't know how Zelena got there, or back, and I have even less idea how she got here. Rumple has been working on the logistics of getting us home, but it's not been very successful. It was one of those attempts that actually brought Robin and his crew here."

"Interesting, but Zelena?" Rush asked. Clearly 'on topic' was not one of Jefferson's strong suits.

"Oh right. You have to understand, Rumplestiltskin and I have been doing business together for a very long time, before Belle, before even my marriage. In the early days, he was working on various plans simultaneously in order to find a way to get to Bae. He is prescient, you know?" Rush nodded, though the other two seemed surprised. "He knew he needed one of Cora's daughters to cast his curse. Of course, he thought it would be Regina, the only daughter of which he was aware, and once she began to turn against Cora, he stepped in as her mentor. But then Zelena showed up. The problem with being a seer is that it's unpredictable. Rather than take a chance, he started training her as well. He has always been one for contingency plans."

"But there was something wrong," Rush said aloud as vague impressions flitted across his, or rather Rumplestiltskin's, memory from their time together.

"You could say that, all right. Zelena was unstable, and I know unstable, believe me. Of course, Rumple knew that and it didn't much concern him, he's not always been the picture of sanity himself. But she developed a very unhealthy...attachment to him. He didn't encourage it. To be honest, I don't think at first he noticed. I did. I tried to warn him, but he said it was just a crush and would pass soon enough. He was certainly never interested in her that way. I don't think he was ever interested in anyone that way, not 'til Belle came along. He doesn't talk about Bae's mother, but I get the impression that the marriage wasn't the best. Anyway, long story short, he figured out her obsession, and sent her packing back to Oz. I don't know the details, Rumplestiltskin is not a man to share confidences, but clearly, she's not gotten any better."

There was quiet around the table for a few moments, everyone thinking about what the man had said. Rush sat thinking and drinking his coffee. He could see some of it, though he had tried very hard not to think about Rumplestiltskin's past or his relationships. To be honest, he had tried not to think about all of it. It was too complicated, too emotional. He'd never been good with emotional complications. He liked things clean and simple. Fortunately, Jefferson seemed done with his story time. The hatter suggested that they get started, as Regina would be joining them soon, and if he could get the explanations over, they would save time. Rush had noticed however, that his gaze lingered on Mary.  
Once they were safely in the other room, the man spoke. "Tell me Rush, Miss Mary...she," the man asked cautiously.

"If you are asking if Mary has a husband, the answer is no, nor to the best of my knowledge is she seeing anyone," Rush practically growled. He didn't want to involve himself in anyone's relationships. He was having enough trouble managing his own. Then a thought occurred to him. "Actually, she has been so very busy with getting Mandi settled into her new life, perhaps she would like to see more of Storybrooke?" he suggested. The man smiled back at him, message received and understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all and thanks for staying with this story. Sorry it's been a bit, but I have really been tied up in a serious shit show. However, now that it is more or less sorted, I should be back to regular writing for the next two weeks. Please, read, review and all that sort of thing.


	54. Planning and Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last of the planning.

<

Rush stumbled back into the house, almost literally. The magic that had been surging through him was momentarily quiet, but he was tired and very hungry. "What have I told you? Get a good meal or so and plenty of sleep. I think we are ready, or as ready as we are likely to get."

"The question," Jefferson said, "is when do we go?"

"The ship drops out of FTL on a fairly regular basis," Rush told them. "If I were Rumplestiltskin, I would be in the gate room when they do, to avoid...awkwardness. In that few moments, I will be able to see the countdown clock. That is our best window. As soon as the connection is restored, we should move. I'm not exactly certain how this works, but as a physicist, I'm betting that it is going to be easier to hit a slower moving target, for lack of a better analogy," the doctor explained.

"Okay, so they drop out of...whatever that does, and Rumplestiltskin and Belle go somewhere private."

"Probably back to their quarters. It's out of the way as well, and not too far from the water storage," Rush supplied.

"Yes, and then Jefferson uses the hat."

"Yes, remember, the same number go in that are coming back, no more, no less. That is how it works. So, who goes?" the Hatter asked.

"Really all that needs to be done is to exchange Belle for Mandi, and get the memory potion into the water storage tanks," Rush said. "There is no need to mount an expedition. In fact..."

"I will be going," Jefferson said. "I have to, I'm driving. Beyond that, Rush, Mandi, that is all that are really needed. But what are you going to do about the computer records and that sort of thing. This isn't the Enchanted Forest, everyone here has records."

"Apparently, Ms. Swan knows a very good hacker. They are busy rewriting Dr. Perry's history, which I will download though my secure access. A few details, and all will be done."

"Anything as long as I do not have to travel by hat," Regina said with a sniff.

"No desire to see the wider universe, your Majesty?" Jefferson teased.

"I think not. Now if you will all excuse me." She rose with a level of hauteur that only she could have pulled off and left.

"I suppose I should be going as well," Jefferson said. "I've a couple things to attend to, though I am on my own this evening. Grace is sleeping over with Gretel. They have a school project. Unless...Miss Mary, would you like to join me for dinner, and perhaps a tour of Storybrooke by night?" he asked with a charming smile.

The woman looked a little surprised. "I don't know, Mandi..."

"You should go. I am fine here with Nick," her former patient told her.

"Absolutely, we have those power distribution equations to work on anyway. You needn't hang around for that," he said with a straight face, though no one looked like they believed him. Hell, _he_ didn't believe him, but that didn't matter. A little private time with Mandi would make them both happy.

"Well, I suppose, if the two of you are..."

"Go on, enjoy yourself," Mandi encouraged.

"In that case, I would be honoured."

"Excellent. Shall I pick you up in an hour then?"

"That would be lovely," she told him, blushing just a little as he took her hand and kissed it with old fashioned courtesy.

Mandi went up the stairs with Mary to 'help her get ready'. "He's just being nice," her former companion protested. "It's _not_ a date."

"Keep telling yourself that," Mandi advised as she urged her onward.

 

For his part, Nick left them to it and went to pick up takeaway. He'd never been much of a cook. At uni, he'd managed to survive on eggs, tinned soup, and the odd dinner from the mobile chippy, at least until Gloria. After they started dating, he'd learned to make eggs a second way, but had never gotten further. Mandi, of course, had never learned. Since they were going to be on their own, he'd asked Jefferson to recommend something. He wasn't up to Granny's again, or rather the people at Granny's.

"The Magic Carpet does a great takeaway, best Agrabahan cuisine in town, well, only. but..." The Hatter shrugged.

"Care to put that into a culture that I am familiar with?" he'd growled. The fairytale nature of Storybrooke, which he thought would get easier, only went so far.

To his credit, Jefferson seemed to understand. "Sorry. It's difficult. I know you aren't Rumple, but still, I expect you to be more versed in our world than..." Rush nodded. He knew he shouldn't take it out on the other man, especially as he had been genuinely helpful. "My cursed memories are a little iffy, I wasn't...it's complicated, but I think maybe Middle Eastern? Spicy, lots of things on bread, or to put bread in, and the bread itself is amazing. It's tasty."

Rush took his recommendation and that of the helpful gentleman at the restaurant who put them together what he assured Rush was a good dinner for 'a young couple'. He didn't correct him about the young, and the man refused payment with a grin. "I owe Rumplestiltskin," was all he said before wishing him a good evening.

When he arrived back at the house, he found that Mandi was still upstairs with Mary. He unpacked the large carrier bag (why did everyone in this town seem intent on feeding him?). He put the cold things in the refrigerator and tucked the hot ones in the oven to say warm still in their foil.

Rush had only just finished when Jefferson knocked on the door. "Here," the man said, handing him a bottle of what looked like wine. "Goes with the food, trust me. I know Rumple probably has some, but I thought it'd be easier than looking for it. So Miss Mary is..."

"She's changing. She will be down shortly," Rush told him as they went through. "Mary has been very close to Mandi for quite a while, so..." Jefferson interupted him.

"If this is a warning, then I assure you, it's not necessary. My intentions are honourable and I will be a complete gentleman. The truth is, I haven't really been out with anyone since my wife passed. It's not easy here."

"How long?" Rush asked. If anyone could sympathise, it was him.

"Not counting the twenty eight years of the curse, eight years."

"Ten," Rush said. Their eyes met and there was understanding. Nothing else was required. Instead they waited in silence.

Mandi practically danced down the stairs. "She'll be down in just a minute," she said, a wide smile on her face, and why not? Certainly Rush could not remember a time when Mary hadn't been there, not since she'd started with her sometime during her graduate school days, of course Mandi would be anxious to encourage her to have some kind of life.

Shortly, Mary joined them. Rush recognised that she was dressed nicely and from the look on the other man's face, it was effective. He wondered idly if that was how he'd looked last night. But rather than consider it further, he watched as Mandi shooed them out, in a complete reversal of the previous evening.

"We won't wait up," the scientist said, as she closed the door behind them. "Now, Doctor Rush, what was it that you had in mind for this evening?"

"Power distribution equations?"

 

In the end, the two of them laid dinner out on the table in what seemed the least formal of the downstairs rooms. Jefferson had been right about both the food and the wine, which had a similarity to tej or maybe some other honey wine, without the sweet edge of most mead.

They lounged on the settee, eating, feeding each other, and talking. It was close and intimate in a way he had only ever been with Gloria. Finally, the food was done, and the last of the wine poured. Mandi had settled against him, one hand tracing patterns on the arm he had draped around her shoulders. "Well, Doctor Perry," he said, pulling her close. "What would you like to do?"

"You."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being patient with me. My life has been tied up in a really big shit show for the past while. But I am glad you are still with me. Please read, comment, and all those happy things, because it's really been a hectic time.


	55. Together at Last

Rush looked at Mandi. He was a little surprised at her bluntness, though he had never known her not to say what she meant. Not that he didn't want to take her off to bed. His entire body had been humming with suppressed desire ever since he had woken up two days ago with her wrapped around him. There was a small part of him that considered waiting until they were on Destiny, in his own body, but that brought its own questions. How would the memory potion work? Would the crew see them as a couple? Did she even want to be? Did he? "We should clean this mess up," he said, and immediately regretted it. Mandi looked away from him, clearly taking it as a rejection. "Then perhaps we can continue this conversation upstairs?" he suggested. The other worries could wait. "I don't know about you, but considering the way things have been, I'd like a door between us and everyone else."

Mandi's smile had returned, and she leaned in for a kiss. "Why don't I get this cleaned up, and you go enjoy your after dinner smoke?"

"Thought that you wanted..." he started, but didn't finish. Too early for that level of teasing. Instead he released her and gathered what he could in one arm, and moved toward the kitchen.

 

Standing out on the porch, Nick watched the sun sinking while he smoked his cigarette. Soon he would have to quit again, so he thought he'd best enjoy it. He didn't want to think too much. In emotional matters, it had always got him in trouble, but he couldn't seem to stop himself.

Mandi was young and beautiful and he, well, he was not. Oh, he had no real illusions about his looks, some women found him attractive enough, at least until they got to know him. He was sarcastic, rude and arrogant, and those were his better traits, he knew that. Still, if anyone knew him that well, it was Mandi. She had been there when his life fell apart and she still wanted him, and he wanted her.

He also didn't really want to think about the fact that it had been a while and that was in his own body. Not that Rumplestiltskin's body was much different. He could work with it, certainly. He needed to do this right, for Mandi. He took a last look out at the garden and patted the table, which had crept up beside him. _Well_ , he thought, _at least I've made one new friend here_. Then he turned and tried marshaling his thoughts into more pleasant directions, like what, exactly he was going to do when he got Mandi upstairs.

Mandi was rinsing the last of their dishes to load into the dishwasher. Rush stepped up behind her and slipped his free arm around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. Mandi was almost as tall as he was, making it so very easy to settle her against him. He brushed her hair back gently from her neck and pressed a kiss to the soft flesh below her ear. "Is this what you had in mind?" he whispered.

She let out a soft sigh of pleasure. "It's..." she started. He bit down gently on her earlobe. "Yes."

"Come with me," he told her, pulling her away from the sink and turning towards the front of the house and the stairs. It wasn't easy, coordinating his cane with the desire not to release her even for a second. Now that the decision was made, he wasn't inclined to wait any longer. Rush had always been one to stick to his decisions once made.

They paused on the landing while he pulled her into a slow kiss. Before he could get too distracted though, she was pulling him toward the stairs. Apparently she was tired of waiting too.

Once they were behind the closed door, Nick sat on the side of the bed and pulled her into his lap. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes, I believe you wanted something," he said, smiling as he bent his head to kiss her. "What was that again?" he asked, another kiss, this one to her throat. She let out a moan allowing her head to fall back. "I think you had it backwards," he told her. "I am going to be the one who has you."

"Then what are you waiting for?" she asked.

Rush kissed his way down her neck slowly, enjoying the way her pulse sped up beneath his lips. He drew back just a little and reached one hand to the hem of her tee shirt, moving slowly so she had time to stop him if she wanted to. Instead, she pulled back and stripped it off in one move, dropping the garment to the floor behind her. Her colour rose in answer to his hot gaze but she made no move to cover herself.

"Beautiful," he said, stroking her shoulder with one hand, while the other stroked her back, keeping her balanced on his knees. He was going to have to move her, the pressure was not exactly good for the damn ankle, but at the moment the ache was helping him focus, keeping him from going too fast, not that she seemed to be interested in slow.

"Now you," she said, unbuttoning the first couple of buttons on his shirt clumsily. He'd not bothered with the tie, not only did it feel wrong, but it served to highlight the differences between him and Gold. He thought about helping her but settled for removing the cuff links that he had spent too much time fighting with over the last couple of days, (and really, had the blasted imp never considered something as modern as buttons?).

Mandi leaned closer, working the buttons open while he settled for running his hands across her skin whereever he could reach. Slow, that was the ticket, he reminded himself again as he stroked the sides of her breasts through the thin, white lace bra, and was rewarded with a sharp breath. He wondered idly if the bra had been a part of the things Mary had bought for her.

She reached the bottom, the last button undone, and he shrugged it off before pulling her close for a kiss. The feel of her warm skin and the slight rasp of the lace against his chest spurred him on. Nick wrapped both arms around her, tugging a little, trying to get muscle memory to undo the bloody clasp. A shift, a tug and it came free and he ran his hands up her back, under the straps to slip it off, his mouth still engaged with hers, teasing, learning what made her squirm so deliciously against him.

The woman pulled away, blushing just a little as he tossed it aside. Rush took her in fully. Her skin was pale, unsurprisingly, though there was a faint tinge of pink as he allowed his eyes to roam freely. Then she slipped from his arms, much to his surprise. _Going too fast_ , he thought, but she just stepped back a pace and slipped off her shoes. For a moment, he thought she was going to finish undressing herself, and opened his mouth to tell her that was his job, when she dropped down to her knees. Whatever coherent thoughts Nicholas Rush had at that moment packed a bag and left the room. His mouth went suddenly dry and a significant portion of his blood flow redirected south.

"Thought it would speed things up," Mandi said, her voice deeper, her eyes bright with desire and mischief as she undid his shoe and removed it and the sock. But as she reached for the other one, he moved to stop her.

"I told you it's not a pretty sight, love," he said but she laid a hand on his thigh, making the rest of what he had been planning to say scatter.

"Doesn't matter," she said. "I don't care. As long as you are you, Nick. The rest is just packaging and not even yours." Then she addressed herself to the other shoe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And again I add my thanks, and say...sorry for leaving it there, really I am. Please don't send the torches and the pitchforks :) Read, review and I will be back with you as soon as I can get there, I promise.


	56. Together At Last-- Part Two

 

 

 

Rush reached out and pulled Mandi towards him, spreading his knees to pull her closer. He rested his forehead against the bare skin of her abdomen. "Are you certain about this?" he asked.

"Nick," she said, exasperated. "No matter how many times you ask me, the answer will always be the same. I've never known you to be uncertain about anything before. Don't you want this?"

"Absolutely, sweetheart, more than you can imagine. I just..." He paused, trying to find a good way to say what was on his mind. "It's never been this important before. I don't want to ruin it. If there's anything..."

"You are _thinking_ too much again," Mandi said, running her hands through his long hair.

"Then perhaps I should do something else?" he asked. Mandi knew what she wanted, and so did he. He turned and pressed a kiss just about the waistband of her jeans, enjoying the way her muscles fluttered under his lips.

"Yes," she sighed. He reached out and unfastened her jeans, pushing her away from him just enough for him to push them down over her hips. She pulled back even further, and shimmied out of them, the movement doing nothing for his control. The pair of white lace knickers reinforced his theory that Mary had been complicit in this evening's arrangements, and he pulled her close again. With him sitting and her standing, it was easy enough to pull her between his knees and press kisses to her belly, working his way down. Both arms were around her, holding her, one hand gently cupping her arse while the other stroked her hip. His enhanced senses were not making it any easier to focus. The taste of her skin was far more distracting than he expected, but it was in leaning close, kissing at the edge of her waistband that he discovered exactly how hard it could be. He took a deep breath, and her scent, her arousal burned through him. Enhanced indeed, it was a wonder the man ever made it out of bed, if that was how his own lovely lady made him feel. Nick bit his lip, hooked his fingers over her knickers, and tugged them down, pressing his kisses lower.

That was exactly what he wanted, to get closer, to taste her and make her cry out for him. Mandi gasped as he kissed her dark curls and he felt her knees go weak. He tightened his grip and pulled her down onto the bed with him. For a moment she was mostly naked, sprawled across him, then he rolled her over, getting her more or less onto the bed. Mandi scrambled to right herself, and he followed with predatory glee, reaching and snagging her knickers, pulling them off her legs as she adjusted her position, and tossing them to join the rest of her clothes.

"Beautiful," he growled, his voice dropping low, accent thickening.

"You are still wearing clothes," she pointed out as he pulled himself up onto one elbow beside her.

"Patience, love," he said, leaning in for a kiss. "At the moment, I have other things on my mind." He nibbled his way down her throat, enjoying the way she shivered. Rush reached out and caressed his way down, brushing across one tight nipple. "We have time," he said, lowering his head, eyes locked with hers as he took it in his mouth and sucked gently. She gasped and arched against his lips as his other hand found her other breast, teasing before following with his mouth.

"Nick...I..." she started but his kisses were making thinking increasingly difficult. Those chocolate eyes, gone dark and slightly feral, made her shiver in all the right ways. She'd never felt this way, nor expected to, and now...well now she was getting it all at once. In the last few days they had not managed to progress beyond some very heated make out sessions interrupted by the sheriff, or last night by their exhaustion. After being unable to feel anything for so long, it was almost overwhelming.

"What do you want? Shall I stop? Slow down? Tell me what you want, and I will do it," he told her.

"Don't stop," she gasped.

He nodded and then continued kissing his way slowly down her body, parting her legs and kneeling between then with a wicked grin on his lips. His hand slipped slowly up her leg, allowing his fingers to slide up the inside of her thighs, watching the goosebumps break out along her skin before he slipped one finger along her soft slit. Nick raised the damp finger to his lips and licked it, eyes locking with hers. Mandi was shocked, but before she could process, he was giving her a predatory smile and then he broke contact and lowered his head between her legs. The first kiss was startling and then he was tasting her, licking and touching, and she lost track of everything except how it felt.

The world seemed to narrow to nothing but sensation. Mandi couldn't keep track of what he was doing, and she knew that no matter how much reading she had done (and really, with no feeling in those parts, she had avoided more than the basics, not wanting to know what she was missing), nothing would have prepared her for Nick's single minded attempt to drive her out of her mind with pleasure. She let her eyes close as the tension grew inside her. Then the world was spinning and white light was exploding behind her eyes and the only thing that seemed to anchor her was Nick's hands on her.

As Mandi came down from her high, she felt Nick sliding up her body, wrapping an arm around her, and stroking her hair, whispering words that she couldn't quite understand. She opened her eyes and met his studying her carefully. "All right, sweetheart?" he asked her gently.

"Even better. That was..." Mandi found herself short on words to describe how she was feeling, but apparently she managed well enough. Nick was looking pleased, but his eyes were still hooded and she could feel him pressed close against her, the fabric of his trousers doing nothing to disguise his arousal. Everything he had done thus far had been for her, and she decided it was more than time to return the favour before he backed off again 'for her own good'. "Now, you are still wearing too many clothes," she said reaching for his belt.

Mandi managed to release his belt and undo the button of his trousers before he reached to stop her. She slapped his hand away though, and slid down the zip carefully. "What do you think you are about?" he asked. His voice was a little harsh and she knew he was trying to keep himself reined in, but he wasn't particularly resisting.

"I'm trying to make us even. Do you have any idea how long I have wanted to get you out of your clothes?" she asked in all seriousness. "I have had dreams about what you looked like naked," Mandi whispered.

"Enough of that, love. Or we'll both end up disappointed," he told her harshly as he captured her hands in one of his and kissed them.

"Then why don't you help me?" she asked. With an oath, he pulled away from her to strip off his trousers and boxers, and drop them onto the floor, but he gave her no time to enjoy the view, pulling her back into his arms.

"Better?" he asked.  Naked he felt even better, their bodies pressed completely skin to skin.

"Oh yes. Now..." she didn't want to break either the moment or the momentum, Mandi reached around him and grabbed the brown paper bag that had been sitting innocently on the night stand, or it would have been innocent, if they both hadn't known what was in it and why it was there.

"You don't need..." he said, reaching for it, but she pulled it out of his reach.

"I want to." Mandi reached in and took out the box, only blushing a little as she tried not to read the box. She had already accused Nick of overthinking, she didn't want to do the same, second guess herself, worry about disappointing him. Instead she pulled the box open and separated the foil packet from the others, putting the rest back on the table before carefully opening the packet. She was trying to keep her hands from shaking, the last thing she needed was Nick to think she was nervous. It was all simple in her head, and honestly before she had met him the first time, she hadn't really seen the point. It wasn't just her condition, but the fact that most of the men she met were put off, either by the chair or by her intelligence. It hadn't seemed important. Of course no one, no book or lecture, could have explained what happened earlier or the way her body was still humming, just on the edge.

Open, slide carefully into place, don't think about what was going to happen next, or whether it could possibly feel nearly as good as what he had done already. It was Nick's turn to moan softly as she touched him. "Going to kill me sweetheart," he murmured as she ran her hand over him, enjoying the contact even as she settled the latex into place. Then he reached for her, pulled her down for a kiss, and dragged her down against him again before guiding her onto her back. She caught her hands in his long hair, combed through it with her hands and enjoying the hiss of pleasure from him before he nipped at her ear and her thoughts grew fuzzy. "Don't want to hurt you," he whispered against her ear. "If you need me..."

"I need you." That was all she had to say.

He moved, shifted until he was between her legs, touching her, caressing her just like before, but just as she was considering how to urge him on, he pushed against her, covering her mouth with his as he slid inside her. For a moment, Mandi tensed. It felt different, a little intrusive and strange. Nick stopped moving, kissing her slowly, taking his time and letting her adjust to the new sensation. She met his eyes, nodded and moved against him, urging him to continue. At first he was slow, his movements rhythmic and very gentle, while his lips wandered from her mouth to her throat and back, finding new places that brought her pleasure. He urged her leg over his hip and she mirrored his motion, pulling him closer. But it wasn't enough.

She grew restless, wanted more. It felt good, but she wanted more, though she didn't quite have the words or the brains to express herself, so she settled for the oldest language of all, touch. Mandi tugged at his hair and dragged her nails down his back until he hissed. He grasped her hips and moved faster and she felt the tension building inside her as she tried to hold it and draw it out.

Nick stroked the side of her face and locked eyes with her. "Not going to last much longer, love. Let go for me," he whispered harshly and with a last thrust, she felt the tension break. Mandi cried out, and he joined her moments later, arching his back and crying out her name as he collapsed against her.

They lay together, breathless and panting. A trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face and she reached to brush it away. "I should..." Nick said as he shifted, but she wasn't ready to move yet, or to let him move either.

"In a minute," she told him, smiling a tired but content smile. Slowly she loosened her grip, and he slipped away from her, tending to the necessary task of cleaning up, despite her sleepy protest. When he returned from the bathroom, she had already drifted to sleep, a smile on her face. Rush slipped quietly back into the bed and pulled her close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third time is the charm. Thank you all for sticking with this story despite the long delays brought on by the shit show I have been going through. Smut is not easy for me on a good day, and the last months have been anything but. Please read, comment and all those things, let me know what I am doing right or wrong, and keep my muse happy.


	57. Out of the Frying Pan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Show time.

Rumplestiltskin opened his eyes on an unfortunately familiar scene. He was back in his own body and he was most definitely not alone, nor was he dressed. _Well, now we **are** completely even,_ he thought philosophically, trying to ignore everything his enhanced senses were telling him. At least he was grateful the man had chosen to sleep in the spare room. After the way he had been with Rush though, he was certainly in no place to talk, and while he felt slightly guilty about being wrapped so very securely around a woman who was not his wife....There was a moment of disorientation and once again he was standing in the room on the Ancient ship, looking up at the countdown clock.

"Richard?" Belle asked.

"Yes," he replied. His wife met his eyes and held up three fingers where only he could see. Three hours. If their signals weren't crossed and all went well, in just a few hours they would be back home. "Let us get back to our quarters."

"See you two later," Eli said, looking up from his console. "Looks like a couple planets in range and it's my turn. Sure neither of you want to see a strange alien world?" he asked with a grin.

"Thank you, no," Gold said before urging Belle off.

In Storybrooke, Nick Rush snapped awake in Rumplestiltskin's body. For a brief moment he was distracted and slightly angry at the thought of the imp waking with his lady, until he remembered his own experience. But at least it appeared that Mandi hadn't woken. Also, they had very little time. The sun hadn't risen yet, and he fumbled for the mobile phone on the night table. "This is Rush. It's time."

 

Two hours later, Rush was enjoying a last cigarette. The calls had been made, he and Mandi had showered (separately, unfortunately, in deference to the time), and Mary was fixing some breakfast. Mandi had packed everything she had into the duffle. It wasn't a lot, wouldn't want things to be suspicious, but she had jeans, shirts, and the usual assortment of necessities. In addition, Mary the ever thoughtful, possibly in conjunction with Jefferson, who knew more about how this worked, had filled a couple of backpacks with things that were most definitely in short supply. He'd unzipped one to find it stuffed with packets of high end instant coffee, for which he said a prayer of thanks. Another contained supplies of a much more intimate nature, which he was fairly certain the women of the ship were starting to need desperately.

Rush heard a car pull up and was only a little surprised to find Emma and Bae coming around to the door, both carrying large containers.

"Dropping off the potion or come to see us off?" he asked as they came up the steps.

"Neither, we're coming with you," Emma Swan said.

"What?"

"Going with you," Bae reiterated. "You're going to need help getting this stuff to into the water supply and a couple of extra hands won't go amiss. I want my Pop and Belle back safely."

"Yeah, and while I'm not great with the magic, it might come to a fight, and I'm good for that," Emma reminded him. He could see that she had her sidearm clipped to her belt. Rush was pretty certain it was more than that, but he wouldn't say anything.

"Whale and Sneezy packed these too," Bae said, gesturing to the backpacks he and Emma wore. "Selection of drugs, antibiotics, pain killers, other things. Whale made the list up. He said they were things that your medic would no doubt need, I didn't bother to..." he was interrupted by another arrival.

"Well, looks like you've got yourself quite a party going," the queen said, though it didn't come out quite as nasty as she was no doubt going for.

"Henry at your place?" Emma asked.

"He'll stay until you get back," Regina said. "Try not to be too long. I have no desire to replace you as chaperone for tomorrow's camping trip." The former queen shuddered theatrically at the very idea.

"Nor would they want you, your Maj," Jefferson said as he joined them. "So it's to be five? I thought as much." The man was dressed, if anything, slightly more eccentrically than usual, high boots, over tight trousers that looked like they had come out of period piece, along with the shirt, another loud waistcoat and a rather extravagant cravat. He was also carrying a large leather...something. "My hat box," he said, noting the man's gaze.

"Why don't you all come get something to eat, there isn't much time," Mary said from the door, urging them into the kitchen.

 

"So, one pack each, and the memory potion. We can only take what we can carry. That's why we have the rucksacks."

"But what about the weight, doesn't..." Rush started to ask.

"That doesn't matter, as near as I have ever been able to judge. Except for the one time, though, I've never been able to move a thing through without actually going myself. So here is how this will work. I will open the portal and we jump. I will be the last through. I cannot guarantee how easy a transit it will be," the Hatter warned. "I've never tried this before, so..." He continued his explanation while Mary tried to push seconds and thirds of breakfast onto Mandi.

"I've heard about the food up there," she said, but finally settled for putting the last of the cooked bacon into a baggie and cramming it randomly into one of the backpacks lined up for the trip.

The whole group started to go out into the garden, save for Mandi, Mary, and Rush. "I'm going to miss you," Mandi told her as she hugged the woman who had been equal parts caregiver, confident, best friend, and older sister for years. Tears were starting to trickle down her cheek.

"I'll miss you too. But you're getting to live your dreams, finally, and I could never be sad about that. Besides, if anyone can get that ship sorted out, it is the two of you together," Mary said smiling, though she too was crying. Rush had thought to excuse himself but neither of them would have it. "You take care of our girl, got that, Rush?"

"I'll do everything I can to make sure of it," he said and was surprised when the woman gave him a hug. It would have probably continued longer, but the back door opened.

"Time to go," Bae said.

 

Out in the back, past the garden, in a clear space on the very edge of the forest, which Regina had told them Rumplestiltskin used for larger magics that required space, everyone gathered. Jefferson had opened the box and taken out a well worn top hat. Despite all that he had seen and learned, Rush was still having trouble quite figuring out how this could possibly work.

"Okay, everyone ready?" Jefferson asked. "Mary, you are going to want to stand back. Get behind Regina, since she is not going, only lending magic. Rush, next to me," he directed. The doctor slipped on the backpack and adjusted the straps. It was never going to look anything but ridiculous with the suit, but as Bae had said, casual clothes and Rumplestiltskin were two things that didn't go together. Still, he positioned himself where the Hatter wanted him and closed his eyes, exactly as they had practiced.

He felt a warm arm slip through his and knew that Mandi was with him. Then he could feel other things, Regina's magic reached out to his. It tasted red and felt like fall apples. Then there was Jefferson, the chaotic energy that wasn't held in any one place, dancing like a plasma ball, spread out...he couldn't see where. "Find me," he heard a voice or maybe it was himself, he didn't know, but he followed, somehow. His thoughts filled with images, purple smoke blurred his senses. Somewhere in the fog he heard one word, "Jump".

The world fell away and Nicholas Rush was vaguely aware of thinking that it should feel like traveling by Stargate, if it had been shorter and not felt quite so much like falling. Then he hit...something, and something hit him.

 

"All right?" a voice that was terribly familiar, probably because it was his own, asked over the vague pounding in his ears. Rush opened his eyes. He was the only one still on the deck. Bae and Emma were hugging Belle, while the old sorcerer in his body seemed to be assessing his condition.

"Yeah, think so. That was..."

"Travel by hat isn't the easiest thing under regular circumstances," Jefferson put in. "Now if we can save the whole..." He was interrupted by the ship shuddering, and alarms began to blare.

"Gold," the door slid open with no knock or preamble and Eli rushed in. "We have to get you to the communications room, the ship is under attack, they've found us and we..." He stopped and looked around. "What the..." Gold waved a hand and he froze.

"Well, that's awkward."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for hanging in with me. Hope you enjoy this and with luck there will be more writing soon (or as soon as my mother in law goes home). Please read, review and all those things... 
> 
> Yes, I left it there....I'm (almost) sorry. I'll be hiding from the torches and pitchforks.


	58. Into the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumplestiltskin and company prepare to go into battle. Meanwhile, back on Earth...

 

"What now?" Emma said, looking at the young man frozen in front of them.

"We go back, leave the potion and..."  There was another shock and the ship rocked again.

"There's no time for that. I need to get to the control interface room. Eli was right about one thing, we need to disconnect from one another," Rush said. He could feel the magic still crawling under his skin. The last thing they needed right now was some kind of accident.

"Agreed, I've no desire to be in battle without my own body," Rumplestiltskin agreed before turning to his wife. "Belle."

"Mandi."

"You stay here," the two men said at exactly the same time, causing a certain amount of consternation. It would probably be amusing later, not to mention suggesting some uncomfortable things about exactly how alike they were, but that was for later.

"Not a hope," Amanda Perry said, drawing herself to her full height. "You need me. I'm not some china doll to be protected, and you certainly didn't bring me here because of our..."

"She has a point,' Rumplestiltskin said. "Belle, you on the other hand..."

"I'm going to the infirmary to help TJ, and don't you dare try to stop me, Rumplestiltskin." She glared at him.

"But..."

"Which of these was the one with the medical supplies?" she asked cutting him off.

"Time, people," Emma reminded them, slipping the backpack she was wearing to Belle. "Under attack, remember? You guys can figure out your love lives after we all survive."

"So, first we need to get us back into our bodies," Rush said. "Gold."

"Agreed. We will go to the communications room and then..."

"Mandi and I will head for the control interface room. I just hope Young isn't doing anything stupid with my ship."

"Don't count on it," Rumplestitlskin put in. "Jefferson..."

"I'll go with Belle. We all know I'm not much of a warrior." He left out the other part, the understanding between the two men. The sorcerer and the portal jumper had known each other a long time, they understood each other well. If it came down to it, Jefferson would take Belle and whoever else was there to make the numbers and go through, willing or no, and both men knew it. At all costs, Belle would be protected.

"You will keep her safe. Bae, you and Emma are..."

"Not leaving you, Papa," his son said. Rumplestiltskin felt a lump in his throat, but that was for later.

"The good news is that they want to take the ship, not destroy it," Rush said.

"Which means two more on the side of the good guys who can handle a fight are always useful," Emma added. "Wish I had thought to bring more ammo, though."

"We need to go _**now**_ ," Rush said.

"Then let's," Rumplestiltskin said, as with a wave of his hand, he released Eli, considering briefly that there was a good chance he was going to be paying the price for today for a while.

"What the hell now..."

"Later, Eli, first let's get through this," Rush said, reaching out and turning the boy around. Eli's eyes were ping ponging back and forth between the two men as if he was stuck in some kind of mental loop. "Take Doctor Perry down to the control interface room. I'll be there as soon as I....well, as soon as I'm myself again. The good news is they want the ship." He could feel the magic building with each rock of the ship, and knew he needed to be back in his own body as soon as possible. That Gold had just done magic while occupying his body, again, was a thought he pushed deep into the back of his mind. Right now, there were bigger problems to deal with.

"That's the good news?" Emma asked, but was ignored.

"Doctor Perry? Amanda Perry, the..." Eli said still trying to catch up.

"Later, Eli," he said, as he hit the door plate. He hurried out and Rumplestiltskin was right beside him, as they swept down the corridor, Belle on her husband's side, and Amanda with him, while Eli and the rest trailed behind them. There was no one there, at the moment, for which they were grateful. Actually Rush was counting on the emergency to keep questions to a minimum.

"Mr. Gold, please report to the Communications room immediately," Young's voice came over the radio, and they hurried up, Rush was managing surprisingly fast for a man with a limp that wasn't his. As they hit the central corridor, more people passed them, most running to fast to pay any attention.

"Go, Mandi," Rush said, as they reached the intersection. The brunette pressed a quick kiss to his mouth, before allowing an already gobsmacked Eli to drag her off down the corridor.

"Nick, stay safe," she said. Then they were out of sight.

 

"Gold, good, I..." Young started as he saw the little party coming towards him. Then he stopped, gaping, causing Lieutenant Scott, who was directly behind him, to crash into him.

"What the hell, how is this..." the younger man exclaimed.

"Later," Rush growled, not stopping.

Colonel Young followed, trying not to let the questions and confusion override his current problems. Looking at the two men, it was a little disturbing. Gold, wearing Rush's clothes, clean shaven and looking neater than he had probably ever seen the scientist in all the time he had known him, while the other man, even with the limp and the expensive suit, had started to take on Rush's shaggy appearance, unshaven, no tie, shirt rumpled. He wondered irrelevantly what Gold thought of what he had done with his body, before following.

The Colonel wasn't sure he wanted to know who the others were, or why. He wasn't even sure _how_ or what to say. Part of him, the part that wasn't planning a battle or praying for Rush to pull a miracle out of thin air, thought that he must have found whatever it was that got Belle and part of Gold there the first time, and made it work, but at the moment, that was the least of his problems.

"Riley," Rush said as he entered the communications room.

"Oh good, you..." He stopped. The man who looked like Rush but wasn't, reached out onto the plate and removed the stone.

It was easier this time, Rumplestiltskin found as he returned to his own body. He might have awakened bits of Rush that he may or may not thank him for later, but this was the body that he had occupied man and boy, for over three hundred years, and it felt right.

"That's more like it," Rush said. He was glad to have his own body back, or more accurately, not having Rumplestiltskin's leg. Unfortunately he could still feel the magic running through him like electricity, though not nearly as strongly. It wasn't something he had time to think about at the moment, as long as he kept control. "Now, I suppose..."

"Did you find whatever it was..." Young said hurriedly. The ship rocked and a shower of sparks came from a relay in the room.

"No time, Colonel. Are you diverting power from the shields? Right now I need to get down to the control room and keep the bloody ship together. I'm not certain who is more of a danger to this ship, the bloody aliens, or you."

As if on cue, the radio crackled. "Doctor Rush, we need you in control," Eli's voice just this side of panicked.

"But what about..."

"You deal with him," Rush said to his almost twin before running off. It probably wasn't the best idea, but he was too worried about the ship to be too concerned about Young's health. Scott reached for him, but Young shook his head.

"I need some..."

"Right now what you need is help," Gold said flatly.

"And can you do something about that? Can we evacuate the way you came? Did you figure out how the tech worked, is that how he and the rest of you got here?"

"Magic," Rumplestiltskin said, with just a bit of his old showman's flourish.

"I don't believe in magic," Young growled angrily. "If you are going to..."

"Well, I would suggest you start, Dearie," the imp said with a smirk. Bae almost felt sorry for the Colonel, almost, as he watched open mouthed while, with a gesture, the expensive suit melted away leaving familiar black leather in its wake. Two days growth of beard faded away as well, and something lit up in the back of those eyes that was guarenteed to terrify Colonel Young. His son knew that look, the look that told the military man that his father was far more dangerous than he could possibly imagine. Bae smiled. Yes, he knew that look. This was the man who had walked into the middle of the battle and ended the Ogre War, bringing all the child soldiers, including his friend, Morraine, home. It was also the man that had ended the Duke of the Frontlands for failing to stop the war in the first place when he had the power to do so at his fingertips. Young had best step carefully. Rumplestiltskin was not one to take the invasion of someone's home lightly, especially people that had probably bonded with Belle, but he had little patience for military men.

"Wardrobe change now, really?" Emma said, but she was smiling.

  
"You didn't think I was going into battle in that suit, did you? Proper clothes for the occasion," he said before turning to his wife.

"We've got boarding pods incoming," someone said over the radio. "Looks like three. Teams one and two to the forward section to the port of observation. Team three...."

"Colonel, time for explanations after we've dealt with the bigger problem. Belle," he addressed his wife.

"Infirmary, I know," she said, kissing him, before turning.

"And I'm with her, don't worry old man," Jefferson said before turning to follow her, bag over one shoulder. The old sorcerer nodded once.

"Bae, Emma," he looked at them.

"Still not leaving you, Papa."

"Excuse me," Young said sharply. "But I'm still in command here and I..."

"And we can deal with your control issues later. For now, I believe there is a battle we should be joining," Rumplestiltskin said, leveling a look at the other man that had sent not a few men running. Young only flinched a little, or so he tried to tell himself.

"Sir, we could use all the help we can get," Scott said.

"Colonel, this is Rush, I think I have something, I can trick the countdown clock, but I am going to need a little time and I need you to stop firing the main guns. Pull the shuttle back in as well. This is going to be..." There was a muffled whomp and another shower of sparks from down the corridor.

"I believe that is my cue," Rumplestiltskin said as purple fire sprang to life in his hand. "Rush, you will have your time," he told the other man before turning on his leather booted heel and heading to where he could sense the fighting was taking place, the other two following him.

"Colonel?" Scott asked.

"Go after them. I'm going to Control and hope and pray the Rush can pull off whatever he is working on."

"What do I do when I catch them?" Scott asked. He wasn't exactly certain how to handle the situation, but in the back of his mind, he was reciting prayers he hadn't practiced in years.

"Back them up," he growled. There would be time for questions later, assuming that they all lived.

 

In a small hospital outside Boston, a man rushed into the ER. "I need some help," he called out to anyone standing nearby.

"What do you need sir?" A man in a security guard's uniform asked, stepping into his path.

"I need some medical attention for this guy, he's in my truck outside, unconscious."

"Show me. " the nurse said coming around, waving for an orderly to follow her with a gurney.

"He's in the truck, my friend is with him," the handsome blond said. "I don't know what..."

"Can you tell me what happened?" she asked as they followed him. There was a short, bad tempered looking man standing by the back door of the SUV.

"I don't know. I mean we were driving by and saw this car smoking by the side of the road. When we got out to look, we found him. I think he got thrown free, but I don't know how long he was out there. There was no one else on the road, and the car was totaled."

"Looked like it had been burning for a while, almost burned out," the other man said. "Volunteer fireman, not my first car fire. I called it in, but it's pretty far out, thought we ought to get this guy some help."

"Okay, let's get him inside," the nurse said, doing a quick assessment. The man had dark hair, and what looked like it was probably a head injury. Blood had already dried on his forehead and in his hair, and there were a few other superficial injuries visible. The leather jacket he was wearing looked old and worn, and it looked like his clothes were burned in places, consistent with the men's story. She wondered briefly if he had got himself out of the car, been thrown clear, or some other good samaritan had stopped but didn't want to get involved. "Good thing you guys came along, not a whole lot of people out there these days that are willing to get involved. I don't suppose you looked for ID?"

"Didn't want to disturb anything, just in case," the blonde said.

"Okay, move him," she said, as they loaded him on a gurney.

"Do you need us anymore?" the blonde man asked. "We really need to get back. We just wanted to do what was right, but we were on our way back to Maine. It's a long drive, and I don't want to worry my wife."

"Probably should take your information," she said as they followed the gurney into the brightly lit ER. "What is your name?"

"I'm David Nolan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so very very long. Honestly I went from my event to coming home to a visit from my mother in law that was twice as long as I thought she was staying. Add a burst pipe upstairs and you can see why I haven't got any writing (or reading for that matter) done. Thank you all for hanging with this story, and please read, review and all those happy things. It really keeps me going.


	59. A fight to remember

Rush raced to the control room, still a little off balance. He was more than grateful to be back in his own body, but he was still regaining his balance. Of less concern was the fact that he had just left Rumplestiltskin to explain things to Colonel Young. The sorcerer could turn the colonel into a snail for all he cared. Right now his only concern was saving the ship, and the lives of himself and Amanda Perry. If, in the process, he saved the rest of their skins, so much the better.

"You don't understand. Rush said..." Eli was arguing with someone, he could hear them down the hall.

"Rush isn't here and..."

"I'm right here. Why hasn't the main gun been shut down?" he growled. "We are going to need that power. Eli, what is the shield strength?"

"It's down to eighty five percent," the young man answered, glad to be back in a role he understood.

"Now, we need to shut down..."

"We can't shut down the gun. What are you doing? We can't defend ourselves," Volker whined.

"For once, you're right, we can't defend ourselves. Which means we have two choices. The first one is that we get the engines on line and get out of here."

"What's the second?" Eli asked.

"They take the ship, kill most of us, and use the rest as experimental subjects. Having been there, I'd not recommend it."

"I'm thinking that we should stick to option one."

"I'm glad we are in agreement then," Rush said sharply. "Now, we need to get the FTL drive back on line."

"It shouldn't be that hard. But for now, what about bringing the sub light engines on line, at least give us some maneuverability?" Amanda asked, speaking for the first time. "Have you tried bypassing..."

"We shouldn't be messing with the engines at all, we don't know anything about them," Volker said. "We could just make it worse, or blow ourselves up."

"Actually, I do," Mandi said giving the blond an appraising look that was not complimentary.

"She does. Doctor Perry knows what she's doing. Here," he said, making room for her at the console next to him. "And shut that fucking gun down." Around the room, the remaining members of the science team were looking at one another in confusion, while Rush and the strange woman had their heads together over the computer screen.

"Who..." Volker asked Eli, quietly.

"How?" Park added.

"Got me," Eli told them as he turned his attention back to the computer. "Okay, the main gun is down."

"About bloody time," Rush grumbled. "Now divert the power to the shields. Amanda, can you..." He looked down at the computer. This was not how he imagined his homecoming. Actually if he had known this would happen, he never would have brought Amanda, but he wasn't going to lose her, not now. "What if we could trick the computer, get the countdown to restart?"

"What do you have in mind?" Mandi asked, her head next to his.

Bealfire followed his father toward where the breaching pod was latching onto the ship. It was the first time he had truly followed his father into battle. Oh, they had been in fights together before, and he had seen his father battling against Pan (against his grandfather, a thought that had never ceased to disturb him), but he'd never really seen this side of things. Walking through the long corridors of the ship, soldiers parting before them, though they probably weren't sure why. Rumplestiltskin in his 'Dark One' persona, which really was just a persona these days for the most part, it was enough to send people running.

"They're coming in. Places, people, we want them contained," the large black man shouted as they hurried into the corridor. Uniformed soldiers were peering from behind the bulkheads, weapons at the ready, preparing to fire.

The man only had a moment to register the newcomers when a metal disc, probably a section of the hull, dropped to the deck, followed by a blue skinned creature, armed. The soldiers began firing when the creature drew something and started to throw it.

"I think not," Rumplestiltskin said. With a wave, the cylinder flew back through the hole. The blue alien looked startled as if flew over his head. For a moment, then Sergeant Greer opened up on him, as the disk moved back into place. A moment later, there was a muffled *whomp* from above.

"Sergeant Greer, report. What happened?" Young's voice screamed from the radio.

"I'm not sure, Sir, but we have one dead alien, and one less pod." The man turned towards them with a smile. "Don't know how you did that, but I'm mighty glad you did. One down, two more to go, that we know about."

"We have a breach. They are coming through in Section Twelve, security teams report," the radio crackled.

"We can tend to that, take your people to the other, before they get inside," Rumplestiltskin said.

"Yes, Sir," Greer responded to the authority in his voice, before looking a little sheepishly at Lieutenant Scott.

"You heard the man," Scott said. He knew when he was out of his depth.

"You need anything?"

"I could use something with a little more firepower," Emma Swan said, holding up her 9mm.

"Know how the fire this thing, Sheriff?" Greer said tossing her the second M-16 he had brought with him.

"I can handle it, yeah," she said, taking it from him. James threw a second to Bae, but when they offered something to Rumplestiltskin, he just looked at them. The sorcerer needed no such help, and anyone looking in his eyes knew it.

Armed and with Lieutenant Scott and half the team, they followed the black clad man down the corridors. No one actually thought to ask how he knew where the fighting was. Around them, people going the other way hugged the walls to let them pass, parting like the sea. Privately Matt thought they probably barely noticed the man, who, for some reason he couldn't quite place, looked less and less like Rush the more he looked at him. Oh, there was the same arrogance, the familiar sneer, but there was something much darker inside him, and the young man was grateful that whatever it was, it was on his side.

"Shuttle locked down," the radio reported.

Before any of them bothered to respond, one of the aliens came around the corner and practically into them. The creature pointed his weapon at...Well, Scott wasn't exactly sure who or what he was, only that 'small town lawyer' was not it. The alien started to wave the weapon at him, when the cane came down on its wrist. It was taller than Gold, not a particularly hard feat, but the man took it on anyway. Two of its fellows rounded right behind it, and the fight was on.

 

In the infirmary, TJ didn't have the time or inclination to question the bags of drugs and supplies that were thrust at her. She wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, anyway.

"TJ, this is Jefferson, what do you need us to do?" Belle asked, preempting any questioning.

"Help me get these treatment areas prepped. There is a list of what should be on the trays. People are going to be coming in and I need..."

"Got one for you, TJ," Becker said as he came through the door supporting another man. "He was standing next to the relay when it blew."

"Here we go, you..." she addressed the eccentrically dressed man that Belle had introduced her to.

"Heavy lifting, I can do that," he said, easily relieving the other man of his burden.

 

There was a change, Rumplestiltskin could feel it. Rush had done something, or was about to. Remembering the memories and not being certain if the aliens were, or could, monitor what was happening, he turned to the lieutenant. "We need to keep them from getting anyone back to their ship. If they..." There was a shudder, and the familiar/unfamilair feeling of the ship slipping back into FTL. "That simplifies things somewhat," he said. He was still standing tall, but Bae noticed he was actually using his cane, rather than just holding it, a sign that he was no longer using the magic to keep his leg healed.

"Okay, Pop?" Bae asked. A lifetime of exposure to magic had taught him the first and most important rule, all magic came with a price, and with no deal in place, his father was going to be paying the full freight.

"I'm fine son, now, we should find Belle. I think that they can handle the rest."

"This is Colonel Young," the intercom blared out. "The alien boarding pods were destroyed when the ship entered FTL. However, one of them managed to get through. All available security personnel are searching section twelve. All non essential personnel, please remain where you are with all doors secured until the all clear is announced. Lieutenant Scott, please show Mr. Gold and his...companions to Control."

"After you, sir, " Scott said. He had no hope if the man didn't want to go, but he would do his duty. Quietly, he wasn't exactly sure what he had seen, nor was he certain he actually wanted to know, but there was very little choice.

"Very well, dearie, shall we?" The menace that had been almost a physical presence had faded. If it were not for his clothes, and the sense of something...ancient, about him, the Lieutenant might have believed that he was what he said he was. Might.

 

David Telford woke up in a hospital. He wasn't sure where he was, or how, exactly he had gotten there. What he did know was that his head hurt, his throat was raw and one leg was throbbing.

"Back in the land of the living? Good." There was a woman beside the bed, probably a nurse.

"What happened?" he croaked.

"Well, that's kind of the question. The police are going to have some questions for you when you are up to it. There was some kind of car accident, it appears. Some passers by found you and brought you in. But let's start with the basics. Do you know who you are?"

"Telford, David Telford, Colonel, United States Air Force," he responded by rote. "Where am I?"

"We'll get there. First, I have to ask you some questions. You had a head injury and we need to make sure everything is working properly. So, age?"

"Thirty-nine, my birthday is February seventeenth, if you need to know."

"Good, that's good. Now, what is the last thing you remember? Can you tell me about the accident?"

He thought for a moment. Something had happened, he knew that. "I took a few days of leave. I'm stationed in Washington, the Pentagon. I needed some time to look..." Suddenly it hit him, all of it, the magnitude of what he had done, the men that he had let die, the ones that had died because of him. He was the traitor, the mole they had been hunting, and at the time, he had believed in what he was doing. It was almost overwhelming. "I need a telephone, now," he told the nurse.

"We'll get to that, you can inform..."

"No, now. This is a matter of national security. I need to speak to General Jack O'Neill." _I need to turn myself in,_ he thought to himself. _Too bad we don't execute traitors anymore._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for staying with me. This was actually a hard chapter to write, but it will clean a few things up. I am afraid this story is almost over, but there is a potential for more things in this universe, I have a few ideas, and of course, I usually take the odd prompt. Please, read, review and all that sort of things.


	60. Answers?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young tries to piece together what happened, but Rumplestiltskin isn't inclined to be helpful.

 

Young had left the control room moments after they had entered FTL which was perfectly fine with Rush. The man was no help at all while they were working, standing there monitoring the radio which he could do anywhere and watching the screen which he could have done in his office. Besides, Rush wasn't honestly one hundred percent certain exactly how he had managed the work around that had brought the engines back on line. He'd had an idea, and been in the process of trying to code it when it had just tripped.

"Whew, that was closer than I'd like to get again," Eli said. "That was some seriously fast work. Does that mean that you figured out how to get into the core systems while you were gone?"

"Not quite, more like a bit of computer...sleight of hand," he told the young man. "I'm not certain it'll work again, but it's proof that this new line I'm pursuing is worth it. Mandi..."

"Nothing like the threat of imminent invasion to speed things up," the younger man commented.

"Hardly, I am not Rodney McKay," Rush said derisively, not even looking up from where he had his head down with the brunette. But before anyone could respond to that, Colonel Young's voice came over the PA.

Rush only listened with a half an ear, at least until he'd told Scott to bring Gold to control. The last thing they needed was one of Young's 'what was that all about' meetings in the middle of his control room. He grabbed the radio. "Colonel Young, this is Rush. We're rather busy right at the moment, so maybe you'd be so kind as to take your meeting somewhere _**else**_?" The tone was deceptively pleasant, or it would have been, except for the venomous sarcasm in every syllable.

"I need you there too, Rush," the Colonel responded. "I need answers."

"In that case, it can bloody well wait. I've damage reports coming in from all sectors, there are relays burnt out all over the ship and yet another hole in the hull from that breaching pod. That's without even thinking about any damage they did once on board, and before we start searching inside and out for tracking beacons."

"I'll make that an order then," Young said in what he probably thought was a reasonable tone. "We can move it to the briefing room if you'd rather though." As if the concession was going to make a bit of difference.

"Yeah, well, we both know how I feel about orders, now don't we?" Rush growled into the radio, running his free hand through his hair distractedly.

"I could send someone down there to back it up," Young said.

"You could take yer orders..." the scientist growled belligerently, but before he could continue on that course, Mandi put a calming hand on his arm.

"Nick," she said. In one word, she made more headway with him than any of them had ever managed, a fact not lost on the members of the gawking science team.

He looked at her and nodded. "Very well. On your head be it if the bloody ship explodes while we are trying to soothe your mind. But it had best be the briefing room, that'll keep the disruption of work to a minimum."

"Fine, bring Doctor Perry with you. Young out."

Rush looked around. The entire team was watching him in shock. Rush never gave in that easily, either. "Well, what are you lot staring at? Think you've got something better to do. If not, there is plenty..."

"I'd best get started on those power relays, before they overload the rest," Brody said, immediately turning to check his equipment. He was not stupid enough to get involved.

"I'd best go check that breech," Park said, checking her own computer screen. Suddenly everyone had something to do, that had nothing to do with looking at the other two scientists.

"Better," Rush said with a nod, before turning and offering Mandi his arm.

The moment they were gone, the rest of the team turned back to one another. "What was that?" Eli asked.

"Proof that Rush is human?" Brody hazarded a guess before turning to leave himself. He really did need to get on those relays.

"I think it's kind of sweet. I've never met Doctor Perry before, but I've read her work. She's brilliant, probably just as much a genius as he is," Park said with a smile before she, too, departed.

"He's not that much of a genius," Volker muttered under his breath, but Eli ignored him the way he always did. It was old news that the blond scientist was desperately jealous of Rush's brilliance. Eli didn't always agree with Rush, but he didn't doubt his brilliance. The problem with Dale wasn't that he wasn't good, but it was what he lacked. He didn't have the creativity, the ability to make the intuitive leaps that Rush could. "One thing though. I thought Doctor Amanda Perry was disabled. It's why she wasn't with us on Icarus."

"Looks like everything's working to me," Eli said with a shrug.

 

Everett Young looked at the people who had just entered the briefing room. He'd rerouted everyone here. Rush was right, not only would it disrupt the work, but he'd get nothing out of the man if he had to compete with the ship. Scott had followed the man who was most definitely not Nicholas Rush in, along with the other two. Judging by what they had said, the man would have to be Bae, or Neal, son of Richard Gold, or whoever he really was. He wasn't even exactly sure which he was. But then Everett wasn't sure about any of this. Looking at the man, he wondered exactly how old Gold had been when he had his son. The woman was most definitely Emma Swan, wife of one, daughter in law of the other. That one was simple.

Then the door slid open, and Belle Gold entered, going straight to her husband, followed by the eccentrically dressed man who had gone to help in the infirmary with her. The taller man took one look around and then threw himself gracefully into one of the chairs with a bit of a smug smile on his face. The sheriff and her husband joined him, but Gold remained standing, leaning casually on his cane, one arm comfortably around his wife.

Moments later, Nicholas Rush came in, with Doctor Amanda Perry, which he knew for certain was impossible, as Doctor Perry was a quadriplegic, and yet here she was, walking in arm in arm with Rush, which was its own level of weird. He had always thought that the only woman the Scot noticed was the _Destiny_ , and if he even had sexual interest it probably involved mathematics and mechanics somehow.

"Can we get on with this then?" Rush asked. "I've not a little bit of work to be getting back to." He held a chair for Doctor Perry, but didn't sit himself.

"All right. First let me say thank you for what you people did. You helped save lives and for that I am grateful." The man who wasn't Rush nodded gracefully but the others just sat there. "Now, I want to know who the hell you are, what you are doing here, and how the hell you did....whatever it was you just did," Young said all at once.

"I told you, dearie, magic," the man in black leather (and even though he had seen it himself, Young was having trouble believing what had happened), said with a flourish of his hand his voice rising and somehow becoming subtly different, almost sing song. The colonel watched the rest of them. Belle greeted this with an affectionate smile, and there was a similar look on the strange man. His son laughed just a little, and Emma Swan rolled her eyes. The interesting reaction was on Rush's face though. He just looked at him, as if it was no surprise. That in its own way was disturbing.

"I told you before, I don't believe in magic. Let's start with who you are, and what alien race you are from."

"What is it with you people and bloody _aliens_?" he said, looking at Rush as if his doppelgänger would have the answers. "As to who I am, Rumplestiltskin, at your service." The man gave a full formal bow that looked like something from a movie set in another time.

Colonel Young let out a laugh. At least until he noticed that no one else seemed to think it was a joke. "If you feel the need to turn him into a snail as a demonstration, I'll not stop you," Rush told him.

"Rumple," Belle said, a fond, but slightly exasperated tone in her voice.

"Nick," Amanda added.

"Okay let me get this right. You want me to believe you are some kind of fairy tale character with magic powers, who just happens to look exactly like the chief scientist on this project? Who does that make the rest of you?" he said, clearly humoring them.

"I'm his wife, and my name really is Belle. In terms of fairy tales, you would know me as the Beauty to his Beast," the petite brunette said, stroking Her husband's cheek, eyes full of the kind of love that certainly seemed to come out of a storybook.

"My name is Jefferson. Realm hopper, and portal jumper by trade. I'm the Mad Hatter," he told the man, producing a rather battered top hat and tipping it, as if it proved his point. "Well, not so very mad anymore, but that's another story."

The colonel's eyes fell on the other two. "I really am just his son, the name I was born with was Baelfire," the man said with a shrug. "Not particularly exciting, I know. I didn't get my own story in this world."

"And you, what, are you Sleeping Beauty?" he asked Emma.

Unfortunately, like her father in law, the sheriff was not known for her infinite patience especially in the face of his derision. Okay, she had been pretty bad at the beginning, but that was before she had actual evidence. Besides, having to deal with Telford had worn out what little patience she had with the military types. "No, that would be Princess Aurora, she's married to Phillip. I am married to Bae, and like him, I don't exactly have my own story," she said. Young looked like he was relaxing a little. "Of course, my parents are Snow White and Prince Charming, so I suppose that counts."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all. Hope you like this little bit. Yes, there is some Young abuse (at least mental) and some Volker abuse (because I never really liked the character), but other than that...well. Please read, comment and all those happy things. I'm afraid we are wrapping up soon, but I'd like to know if you are enjoying the ride.


	61. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young has questions. He doesn't like the answers.

Young looked at the woman. She was most definitely the one identified as Emma Swan. sheriff of a small town in Maine, he'd seen the reports, nothing about mental instability. The entire thing was ridiculous. "Sure, so you are a fairy tale princess.  I mean, Charming, seriously?"

"Actually, for the record, his name is David. Charming is a nickname my mother gave him after he caught her when she robbed his carriage." The look on her face was completely serious.

"Ri-ight. Rush, tell me you don't believe this. It's got to be something, some technology, some kind of trick, something. And how is he...however he looks like you?" he asked, looking at the scientist for answers.

"Well, about the second, I have some ideas, but nothing concrete or that you'd particularly understand. I am sure there is some science to it."

Rumplestiltskin snorted derisively, but said nothing. Rush shot him a look, but continued.

"As I was saying, there probably is, but remember, Colonel, I spent a good part of a week sharing his mind and his memories, and what he says, what they say, is entirely accurate."

"It's got to be some kind of alien trick," Young said doggedly.

"Colonel Young, up until he met us, all of them met us, actually, they viewed aliens in exactly the way you view them, as the provence of fantastical literature and the sort of movies that Henry likes to watch."

"Our son," Bae added for clarity.

"If I hadn't been forced to, I'd not have believed myself," Rush added. It wouldn't do to have Young even more concerned about his sanity. The man might do something stupid before they got this sorted out.

"What about you, Scott?" he asked, addressing the young man for the first time. He had remained standing by the door keeping his own counsel. "You were with them. What happened, what do you think?"

"Well sir, I watched him send a canister, grenade, bomb, whatever, back through the hole and reseal a hull breach after it. Considering it saved us and the ship, I don't much care how he did it. I mean it could be some kind of telekinesis or something, we've seen that before."

"Telekinesis, what's that when it's at home?" Rumplestiltskin sneered. He was getting bored with the situation, the subject, and Colonel Young, who was getting closer and closer to something slimy though he didn't know it.

"A sort of mind power..." Rush started.

"Well, of course magic is done with the mind, how else would you direct it?" the sorcerer said, looking at them as if they had just said the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard, which, Rush thought, from his perspective, it may very well have been. "Mind, will, and emotion, those are the keys, you should know that by now."

Rush ignored the last part and hoped that Young didn't ask. The last thing he wanted to explain was his own brush with magic. That table was proof, actually it was still running around on the porch as far as he knew.

"So does that mean all of you people have magic?" Young asked, only slightly sarcastically. This time the entire Storybrooke group laughed. Belle was laughing so hard that tears appeared in her eyes, and Rush laughed with them. Yes, he believed there was a science to it, and he planned (if it didn't go away with the imp and company) to explore the possibilities throughly in his copious spare time between fixing the ship, keeping them alive, and exploring his new relationship with Mandi. He might have to give up sleep, but then that was nothing new.

"I'm sorry, Colonel," Belle said, getting herself under control and wiping her eyes with a handkerchief (an actual cloth handkerchief that the imp had pulled from some place that might have been thin air). "But you see, I have all the magical potential of that table, as my husband will tell you."

"Less," both Rumplestiltskin and Rush said reflexively at the same time, without a pause.

"I've got none either," Bae told the man. "Never have. Pop checked when he first took the curse, to see if he could teach me some things, but..." The man shrugged.

"Yes, and Ms. Swan does, a result of her birth as the child of True Love," Rumplestiltskin added, confusing the colonel more, which was probably the idea.

"I do," Jefferson spoke up, leaning back in his chair. "But it's limited to the one thing. Think of it as..." The tall man paused, looking for an analogy.

"He's a specialist,' Rush explained. "He can only do the one thing, but about that one thing, he is entirely expert." The Hatter nodded his appreciation.

"You know none of this makes any sense, right?" Young said, almost pleading for someone to crack a smile. "This is nuts, you are asking me to believe in fairy tale princesses and magical gnomes who can spin straw to gold, it's..."

"I am _not_ a gnome," Rumplestiltskin said dangerously. His patience was wearing very thin, and Rush knew it.

"No more insane than taking a portal to the far side of a different galaxy. Think of all the things we have seen, Colonel. Besides, considering what they have done for the ship, you might wish to consider a little more courtesy." Rush was looking at his twin. The sorcerer had used a great deal of magic today, especially considering what he had done, or rather what the scientist had done, with help, while still in his body. There was a good bet that he was exhausted, and that wasn't likely to improve his mood. Making him more unpredictable was probably a bad plan, and while there might be some small joy in Young as a snail or other small invertebrate, it wasn't going to improve the situation. They were going to be on the ship at least until they dropped out of FTL, and there was the small matter of getting the memory potion (a couple of gallons of it, currently sitting on the floor in Belle's quarters) into the water tanks and reprogramming the computer. "Colonel Young. I have work to do, and after everything that has happened, you should let them get some food, and some rest. They aren't going anywhere at the moment."

The colonel could see the wisdom of the suggestion. As much as he wanted to question them until he got some answers he liked, he had also heard enough about what the man had done to be cautious (and while he didn't believe in magic, was it worth risking whatever the man was likely to do, regardless of how he did it?). "Fine," he growled. "Scott, take these...people and get them something to eat, then into some quarters, and I don't particularly want them talking to anyone. I need to report to Homeworld Command. They are never going to believe this."

"I'm afraid that last might not be possible until at least tomorrow," Rush told him neutrally.

"Why not? Rush, if this is some..."

"While you were busy firing the main gun, against advice, I might add, it blew out the power relays to communications. Actually there is no power at all in the entire section. Could have been worse, at least it wasn't the infirmary or control, but you might want to think about that next time. We are working on it. Brody was surveying the damage and trying to reroute power from necessary systems, but it might take some time."

"It could have been better, it could have been the mess," Scott joked.

"How long?" Young asked, exasperated.

"Well, I wouldn't know that, would I? Having been here instead of tending to more important things. But if you will let Doctor Perry and me get back to work..."

"Yeah, how are you here, Doctor Perry, and how are you..."

"Whole?" Amanda asked. She had already picked up Rush's dislike for the commander. "Magic, of course," she said, before she turned with Rush and left.

"Find them a place to be," he ordered. Young was too frustrated, too angry, to think straight. One thing he did know, while he should be grateful to them for what they had done, it was difficult. "Lots of fucking work," he said to himself, not wanting to think about what they were going to do now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful comments. I hope to have this finished up soon. Please do what you do best and hit the comment button.


	62. Backlash

 

"This way, folks," Matthew Scott said. "I know you two know your way, around but the colonel..."

"Yes, we are aware, Lieutenant," Belle said kindly. "At least there is little need to worry about quarters. Rumple and I can remain where we are, and there are several empty rooms for Bae and Emma, and for Jefferson."

"Makes it a little easier. Doctor Perry..."

"I'm taken care of," she answered, looking at Rush. The two of them were still with the rest only by virtue of the fact that they were going the same direction. Colonel Young had given him no specific instructions about the scientist, and by the way she stayed close to Rush, he decided to leave it alone. A good soldier knew when to pick his battles.

"This is where we leave you," Rush told them. The radio had been crackling the whole time, damage reports, fires, and at least one crew member trapped by a door that wouldn't open.

"Enjoy." The smirk he gave them would have looked at home on either of them.

They had just collected food and were on their way back to quarters ('It'll keep you from being the latest news,' Scott had said, 'or more than you already were.'), when Sergeant Greer called him.

"Lieutenant, we finishing the bug hunt, at least on the inside. Got all the little suckers. Want me to organise teams to search for those tracking devices?"

"Sergeant, Eli's rigged a couple of kino's to handle the hull. I think I can get the internal sensors to look for unusual energy signatures. It'll probably pick up other things as well, we can't be as precise without me having one to dismantle, which I am hoping you will be able to supply me. But this will narrow the search down. We've got until we drop back out of FTL to find them."

"You tell me the place, I got the equipment." The two men might hate one another, but where keeping the ship together was concerned, and out of the hands of aliens, they were on the same page.

"Go to tack two. Volker will guide you. I think we have at least twenty four hours before we drop out of the FTL and they can track us. We need to finish before then."

Lieutenant Scott accompanied them back to the quarters that Belle had been sharing with...well, whoever or whatever, he was still definitely her husband, of that much, Matt was certain. "So I guess you two can have the quarters next door and..." he looked at Jefferson. He hadn't actually figured his place in all this, but it was best to keep them all together.

"Any old corner will do for me. Whereever it is, I have been in worse," the tall man said with a smile.

"Lieutenant Scott, save Doctor Rush, all of these rooms are empty, and I have been here long enough to get them settled and shown around. Surely there are more important things that you are supposed to be doing," Belle said brightly.

"Yeah, well, for now the colonel wants me to..."

"Lieutenant Scott," the radio blared. He waved them into the Golds' quarters and turned to answer.

"Saved by the radio," Emma said. "So what was that all about, Gold? It's not like you to..." She paused as she watched Rumplestiltskin start to crumple. Bae caught his father before he hit the floor and Jefferson helped him get the man to the bed.

"Rumple," Belle said, distressed.

"What the..."

"He has overdone it," Belle answered. "And has been trying to cover it from everyone."

"I'm fine, sweetheart," the sorcerer said fondly to his wife. Belle just looked at him as she was wrestling with getting him out of his long leather coat. "A little...food," he said, looking dubiously at the bowl of protein porridge livened up with some of the fruit from the last stop. "I'll be as good as new."

"Papa, you used a lot of magic today. You did this on your own, with no deal, and you know there is nothing to balance it," his son told him. "You need more than food, you need rest. We have no idea when the conditions are going to be right for going home, or what's going to go wrong next."

"And on that note, may I suggest that we eat our...whatever it is...Looks a bit like what they served in Cora's dungeon at one time," Jefferson said.

"Trust me, dungeon food is preferable," Rumplestiltskin told him, laying back agains the pillows. "I could use just a little..."

"Don't you dare," Belle growled as she attacked the laces on his boots with a very unladylike exclamation. "You will eat it, all of it. Do you understand me?" She looked the sorcerer straight in the eye while most of the room looked somewhere else. There were any number of people who would have been surprised to watch the powerful magic user submit meekly to his wife. "And of all the..." she mumbled angrily at the boot as Bae, with a smile, dropped next to her to help with the other.

"At least he didn't go as far as reverting to the imp we remember and love," Jefferson remarked.

"He never does that anymore," Bae said.

"Not in public anyway," Emma muttered under her breath. Belle blushed to the roots of her dark hair and renewed her efforts with the boot.

There was a muffled knock on the bulkhead and with an effort, the sorcerer drew himself into a full sitting position, unwilling to show weakness in front of anyone outside the room. Taking his cue, the rest dropped onto the bed, except for Jefferson who fell into a chair with his food.

"Come," Rumplestiltskin called. A moment later the door opened, admitting Lieutenant Scott and the medic, TJ.

"I've got to go," Scott said. "They need me and Greer to take a walk. But TJ stopped by, so you should be in good hands."

"Are we under...er...ship's arrest?" Rumplestiltskin asked. "I don't take well to..."

"No, nothing like that, just, you guys should eat and get some rest. It's been a tough day already. Hell, I'd be headed for my rack if I could. But Rush found a tracker on the hull and it can't be handled by the shuttle without risking one of the sensor arrays. We've got to get it off before we drop out of FTL. They can't track us until we do, but they are going to be right on us the minute they have a signal lock."

"And did Rush say how long until that happens?" he asked. Slouched back on the bed with a bowl of food, right at the moment, except for the clothes, he could almost be the small town lawyer he was supposed to be.

"He didn't say, except that it will probably be another twenty four hours. He's not sure. Since he tricked the countdown in the first place, he's not..." Rumplestiltskin looked at him, but he met Bae and Emma's eyes and nodded once. Jefferson, he didn't even bother with.

"Okay, so I'll see you," he said lamely, not sure exactly what to say. "TJ..."

"I'm good, Matt," she told him. "I just wanted to make sure you all were okay," she said as the door slid closed.

"We are fine, Tamara," Belle told her. "You've met Bae and Emma of course."

"Yeah, just not..."

"You look a lot more like a Johansen now," Emma commented as the medic came further in and shook hands with her. She looked closely at Rumplestiltskin as if trying to figure out exactly what he was.

"You..."

"Yes, this is my real body. I could prove it to you. The differences are easy enough, but this stuff is hard enough to get down without help." He grimaced at the bowl.

"I don't even want to know, thanks," Emma said.

"His ankle," Bae said quietly.

"Yes. I also don't have Rush's tattoos or his heart surgery scar."

"Need a heart for that," Emma said. Sniping at her father in law was second nature to her at this point.

"I have one." He gave the sheriff as good as he got. "It's at home in that box on the mantle."

"Rumple..." Belle warned.

"That was a quip, dearie," he said. "She made me put it back."

"I'm not going to ask how you all got here, or why," Tamara said, ignoring the rest. "Just like those supplies. They were put together by a medical doctor at the very least, and are exactly what I need. I don't care how you got them. The packing said Storybrooke General Hospital. I'm not going to say anything but thank you. I destroyed the marked packaging, thought it might be best not to know."

"Thank you, TJ," Belle said.

"I know what you all did. Greer told me. I don't know how, I'm not going to ask anything that I don't want the answers to. But suffice it to say, there are reasons that make me really glad you did."

"Congratulations, Miss Johansen. I'm certain your child will be well loved. Though I would wait to tell the colonel," Rumple said cannily.

"How did you..." she asked. "I just found out."

"Suffice it to say, that is one of those questions you don't want the answers to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, sorry, sorry this took me so long. I had to do family things, and they kind of ate my life. However, here is a little something. Thank you for reading and if you like what I am doing, please leave a comment and let me know what you like.


	63. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Telford?

 

TJ stayed for a little while longer. She was less inclined to worry about them needing to be watched as they were all looking tired. Belle and Emma found the other supplies that had come through to give her, much to the medic's delight. Menstrual supplies were dangerously low and condoms were a distant memory, but it wasn't appearing to slow people down any. "Wouldn't have done me any good," TJ commented. "But it might help prevent a population explosion that we can ill afford. I'm all for my baby having companions but..."

"The difficulties, yes," Rumplestiltskin acknowledged. Then she had taken herself happily back to the infirmary. If nothing else, they were able to delay those particular worries for a while.  Rumplestiltskin was still lounging on the bed with apparent ease, Belle having finally won her battle with the boots, but they all knew it was because he hadn't the energy to rise. The magic had taken a lot out of him, more than he was ever going to admit to anyone, even those who knew the truth.

 

 

"Sir, I'm ready to submit myself for court martial, or whatever punishment you see fit," David Telford said formally. He would have been more comfortable sitting or standing, pretty much anything but laying down in the hospital bed, but the General had insisted he stay. Outside the hospital room, two large Air Force Security Force specialists stood guard. It hadn't take more than a few minutes of explanation for what had happened to get some action. General Jack O'Neill had made it to the hospital in record time, well, record time for a man who had access to a fighter jet.

"Hang on a minute, you're getting ahead of yourself. So, you are telling me that you have spent the last couple of years brainwashed into being a double agent by one of the factions of the Lucian Alliance," General O'Neill summarized. "During this time, you were responsible for the deaths of several men under your command while you were undercover, as well as the attack on the Icarus base, a base you were one of the men responsible for the security of?"

"Yes, sir," he said stiffly. It wasn't making him feel any better, not at all. Actually, he kind of wanted O'Neill to do something, scream, punch him, anything to take away the sick, soul crushing guilt.

"At ease. Dammit, David," he said, for a moment dropping from commanding officer to friend.  "You have really fucked up royally, you know that, right? I don't know if there is any way to fix this."

"I know.  I wish..." he started but the general held up one hand.

"Okay, I'll admit, I'm feeling like a little bit of an idiot myself. I saw the change in you, the way you and Everett were at each other's throats. You guys have been friends for years. I put it down to stress, PTSD, and you siding with Emily. The question is, what now? I know one thing, that wreck you were in had to be pretty bad. It takes dying, or close to, to break that programming. You're lucky to be alive."

"Lucky, yeah," he responded bitterly. His life was a ruin. David had destroyed his career, made an enemy of his best friend, not to mention trying to seduce his wife (he wouldn't take responsibility for the mess that was their marriage, but he'd certainly egged it on), and he'd betrayed his country, planet and species in the process. If he was lucky, he would get a court martial with summary execution. Actually, that was what he was hoping for at the moment. It seemed the least painful option.

"Do you know what you were doing up here in the first place?" the general asked.

"Not a clue, Sir," he said, judging that they were back to the regularly scheduled interrogation. At least it was comfortable ground. "It could have been a mission for them, but I can't remember a thing, really."

"Okay, I need to think about this," Jack O'Neill said, running a hand over his face. "When are you supposed to report back to them, and do you know of any other agents they have in the SGC, the IGA, or any other three letter acronym that you can think of?"

"What day is it? I don't really have a scheduled check in particularly. It's when I have something to report. Other agents? They aren't exactly forthcoming. I suspect there is someone inside the Pentagon, but not someone who works directly with any of the Gate programs, and that's a guess, just a feeling I have, based on something my contact said."

"I need to think. You...don't go anywhere. I'm going to find whatever it is that passes for coffee here and make a couple of calls."

"Where would I go?" he asked despondently.

 

It was sometime later, the general returned. He wasn't smiling. "Okay, for now, you are here, under guard, while I make some arrangements. We're going to get you transferred to Andrews as soon as we can get transport. Officially, you are in a coma, following a car accident while on leave for a family emergency. If you miss a check in, and they have another agent, they will get word. That should buy us some time. I can't guarantee it, but I think, David, that you are about to become a triple agent."

Privately, Telford thought that there was a good chance he would just get himself killed, but right now, that didn't sound like a bad thing, especially if there was some redemption to be had. "I can do that."

 

Rush knocked on the bulkhead door two down from his own, one arm around Amanda Perry. They entered as soon as they were invited. He wasn't certain how to react to Rumplestiltskin, especially now that the adrenaline had worn off. It was just strange to look at...well himself. Amanda was beside him though, and that made everything at least a little better.

Once through the door, he took in the situation at a glance. The sorcerer was laying on the bed, the coat, vest, and boots, removed, with Belle beside him. Emma was standing, probably interrupted while pacing. Bae was sitting on the foot of the bed and Jefferson was doing...something... to his hat, routine maintenance for all he knew. For some reason he could sense the sorcerer, and he knew exactly what was happening with him.

"That is never going to get less than freaky," Emma said, looking from one to the other, breaking the scientist's thought.

"How do you think I feel?" Amanda asked, but she was smiling.

"And I," Belle agreed.

"Yes, yes. Well, I have good news. It looks like my trick worked better than I anticipated. If my calculations are correct..."

"And they are, I double checked them," Amanda broke in.

 _Anyone else would have already gotten the rough edge of my tongue,_ he thought fondly, but with Amanda, well, the rough edge wasn't what he wanted to show her. He took a moment to wonder when he had become such a horny bastard, but Rush put it down to the new relationship, or possibly the residual effects of sharing a body with a certain sorcerer. "We will be dropping out of FTL in approximately eighteen hours. As I understand it, the memory potion takes some time to take effect..."

"Not exactly," Rumplestiltskin interrupted. "This one has some very specific properties.  Those would be the modifications that you gave Regina. Once we get it into the water supply, it will be essentially inert until it gets what it needs, just a little spark of magic."

"At which point," Rush started.

"At which point everyone will go to sleep and wake up about ten minutes later with no clear memory of the last two weeks, save beating back the aliens attack and visited a couple of not particularly interesting planets. Doctor Perry was always here, and TJ discovered a crate of miscellaneous supplies that had somehow gotten mislaid in the confusion. The only thing that will need explaining will be why everyone passed out," he said.

"Issue with the ventilation system? I fixed it but..." Rush was thinking out loud.

"But not before we both succumbed, right next to the panel?" Amanda supplied.

"Exactly. We can make something work," Rush said. "Meanwhile..." Here came the awkward part. He could feel it. There was no way he was discussiong this in front of...anyone actually, even family. The questions and the answers weren't anything that he thought that either of them wanted, but Nick was pretty sure that he needed to know.

"I was just about to take everyone down to show them the showers," Belle said. Very quick on the uptake, she was.

"I think I should probably join you, if you don't mind," Mandi said. She grabbed the two remaining packs. "I'll just drop these off and join you."

That the two men might have things to say to one another, was no surprise, and everyone was pretty certain that the intensely private scientist and the even more private sorcerer would do better without anyone else present. Those that needed to know, would find out later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for keeping up with this. I hope you enjoy the answer to some questions. Please do that thing with the typing and the words that keeps my muse happy. Thank you.


	64. Awkward Conversations and a Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rush has a theory, and tells his story.

 

"Well?" Rumplestiltskin asked, when the door had closed behind them. "You had something to say to me?"

Now that Rush had him alone, he wasn't actually sure how to start. It was so much easier in his head. "I still have magic," he said finally.

"And?"

"And, I bloody well need to get rid of it. More to the point, I don't need it, and you do."

"What makes you think that I need it?" Rumplestiltskin sneered.

"Because we both know you overdid it today. That's why you are lounging there trying to look like the king of the castle. You don't have the strength to get up. I can feel it, you know."

"What are you proposing?" he asked, admitting nothing.

"Something like what I...we did with Regina earlier, only I suspect it will be easier from me to you. It is your magic after all," Rush told him. Rumplestiltskin looked at him carefully, considering. "I have lived my entire life up to this point without magic. I'm used to it, it's comfortable. Whereas you've lived with it for the last how many years?" he asked pointedly. "The sooner I'm rid of it, the better."

"It will work and easy enough," the sorcerer told him, looking speculatively. "But are you certain you want to? T'is not an easy thing..."

"Yes," Rush said, moving closer. He ran a distracted hand through his hair. The last thing Nick Rush wanted was to be having a heart to heart with the imp, but he didn't see a lot of choice. He was pretty sure the answer wouldn't be enough. "Right now, I'm a fuckin' loose cannon. I accidentally turned Telford into a snail, did you know that? The man put his hand on me and I just..."

Rumplestiltskin roared with laughter. "I'd have loved to see that. And all I did was take a swing at him, and that not in his own body. Mind, Young deserves it as well."

Rush had to admit it was a bit funny, or rather it had been, once he'd gotten over the anger and the bone deep terror. "I'd have liked to have seen _that_. Hell, I would have liked to've been the one to deliver it, but..."

"Likewise. I think one of those floating things caught mine on camera though."

"I'll look. But meanwhile, I need to be rid of this...whatever it is. I'm concerned about what could happen." Rumpletilstkin looked at him, appraising him for a moment. It was disconcerting, especially since he know knew how he looked when he did that to others.

"All right, come here then," the sorcerer said, waving him over.

Rush went and perched gingerly on the side of the bed. "What do I need to do?" he asked.

"Just give me your hand, and do exactly what you did with Regina," he told the scientist. "It'll be easier, actually. Your magic isn't mine, but it feels like mine, close enough. Though I'm not certain why."

"Get on wit' it and I'll tell you what..." Rush stopped. It wasn't a push as it had been with Regina, or even a pull from the other man, more like it just...flowed right out and into the sorcerer, as if it knew which way to go. A moment later, the buzz under Rush's skin was gone (well, maybe not all, but he could pretend). Rumplestiltskin was also feeling better, he could see it in the other man's eyes, the ones that were so much like looking in a mirror, if the mirror showed him with a couple of hundred years under his belt.

"It's not like a disposable battery you know," Rumplestiltskin warned. "You can't just drain the power out. Magic's a part of you now. Once it's awakened, it'll not fade away, no matter how much you wish it to. Though I'd still like to know why it feels so much like mine. I suppose it could be that in sharing with you, I awakened the potential..." he said thoughtfully.

"Or it could be because we're the same," Rush told him. He wasn't sure he wanted to expand on his theory with Rumplestiltskin, but somehow he felt like he needed to say something to someone, and who else would he discuss it with?

"What do you mean by that? We're not even from the same world," Rumplestilskin said sharply.

"Do you know anything about the theory behind parallel universes? It's something like this," Rush said, as he pulled a notebook from his pocket, along with his badly mended glasses and started to scribble. "You see, essentially any possibility that could be, exists in a different universe, all next door to one another," he explained, drawing.

"So...in one universe, a universe with magic, I took a curse and became a sorceror and in another, I became a scientist? That's absurd, you know that?" Rumplestiltskin laughed. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard since...well, since Jefferson got most of his sanity back. I'll give you that there are different worlds, different realms, but they're not like this...this.." He shoved the notebook away with a sneer.

Rush stood and stowed the notebook back in his pocket. "Maybe, it's all theoretical at any rate. But I'll tell you one thing."

"What's that?" Rumplestilskin asked cautiously.

"My father's name was Malcolm, Malcolm Rush. He was a drunk, a gambler, and a conman, and those were his better traits. He worked the docks when he was sober enough, and then took most of his earnings and started all over again. When I was four, he took me to live with me mam's sisters, my aunts outside the city, and left me there. Anything sound familiar?" he asked. The sorcerer had gone ashy. "They died when I was nine, left everything to me, told me to get away and make a new start. They'd left custody to a cousin in America, but Malcolm, well, he always had a nose for when there was some money to be had. He told the courts 'bout how he'd only left me wit' my aunts while he was havin' a bad patch and we'd make a fresh start. He'd always been persuasive." Rush stopped for a moment. It was hard to tell the story. He'd never told it all to anyone before, even Gloria, too ashamed to.

"He was that," the sorcerer said quietly.

"My aunties were smart, they left most everything in a trust for me eighteenth. Still, he went through everything else, right quick and it was back to the same old thing. The auld bastard managed to get himself killed my final year at school. My cousin agreed as to how I was close enough to majority, and I'd already been accepted at Uni, so he signed off on me." Rush shrugged. He'd had his say at least, and he knew that the sorcerer understood.

"It's not possible," Rumplestitskin said dismissively after a moment, but he was looking paler than he had.

"The Air Force took your DNA. They are running it against mine," the told the sorcerer. "I suppose..."

The door slid back hurriedly and Belle burst in. "Rumple, Doctor Rush, come quick. Jefferson's fallen and knocked himself unconscious. He's bleeding..." Belle cried, panting.

Rush grabbed his radio. This was something he knew how to handle. "Lieutenant Johansen, report to the showers near my quarters. Bring a stretcher, possible head trauma."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this far. Is Rush's theory right? Maybe, maybe not, we won't know until the DNA test. But of course, Rumplestiltskibn isn't going to believe him anyway. But it's the physicist's answer. Hope you enjoy this. Ellynne, the next bit is for you. Please do all the usual things, you know what I mean.


	65. Injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jefferson is taken to the infirmary, and TJ and Young learn some things they probably didn't want to know.

When Rush, Rumplestiltskin, (who had magicked his boots back on, proving that the transfer had worked), and Belle (who was giving them a suspicious look that said they had questions to answer) arrived at the shower, Jefferson was on a bench wearing only his trousers while Amanda held a towel to his head, which was bleeding extensively. It was a sign of how much the hatter had been distracted, that he'd not got his shirt on. Rumplestiltskin knew the man was extremely uncomfortable with the scarring across his throat showing.

"What did you do, Jefferson? And how did you manage to do it?" the sorceror asked.

"It's nothing. A mere slip, though not of the tongue this time. I seem to have struck something on my way down, though. I'm not certain. I knocked myself a bit silly for a moment," he told them, shrugging.

"By which he means he knocked himself unconscious," Emma told them. "I'd be concerned about brain damage, but how would anyone notice the difference?"

"Yes, Bae helped him finish with er..." Amanda paused.

"Making myself decent," the injured man supplied. "But there really is no need..."

At that moment, TJ entered with two random crew members she had shanghaied to carry the stretcher as she had her bag. "What happened?" she asked immediately. Several people started to answer her, but she quieted them. "One person." She looked at Jefferson.

"Like Humpty Dumpty, I had a great fall, but the results were not so very dramatic," he told her.

"Get him to the infirmary, clearly he has some kind of head trauma," she order the two men. "Ill run a scan and..."

"That's not head trauma, Lieutenant Johansen," Rumplestiltskin told her. "He's always been like that."

The lieutenant was trying to get a good look at the injury. The bleeding had slowed, but not stopped. "This doesn't look like..." she started.

"That's not where I hit," he told her. "That is but the merest scrape. I think I must have struck the corner as I rushed to meet the floor. But it is a little thing. Though I'd not refuse if the attending angel wished to kiss it and make it better." There were eye rolls all around from those who knew him.

"Did you lose consciousness?" TJ asked, trying for patience.

"For a moment perhaps, I was feeling a bit like I was in the midst of a jump and..."

"That's a yes," Rumplestiltskin told her with a sour look.

"All right, let's get him to the infirmary." She gestured to THEM to get him on the stretcheR, but he balked.

"I am perfectly fine, but if you must insist, I shall get myself there on my own two feet, thanks. I've been rather attached to using them since I am once again attached to them, if you take my meaning. It's good to have them back. Not sure what they got up to without the rest of me." Jefferson seemed a bit more manic that usual, but Rumplestiltskin, who had known him for a long time, knew it was his method of dealing with people and situations he was uncomfortable with. TJ examined his eyes with a penlight, shrugged, and sent the stretcher bearers away with the stretcher.

"I'm still taking you to the infirmary. I'll clean that cut and run a scan."

Jefferson stood with a hand from Bae, but once he was on his feet, he swayed just a little. The other man immediately slipped under his arm. "We got this, Papa, why don't you go get some rest?" He was surprised to find his father on his feet and was determined that he should go off and lay down before he fell down as well.

"You can't all come with me," TJ added. "So decide who."

"Bae and I'll go. I'm sure someone will show us the way back once she's figured out that he hasn't knocked loose any more marbles than he had before," Emma said.

Rush and Rumplestiltskin looked at one another. The identical looks on almost identical faces was disturbing, at least to TJ. Then Rush shrugged. He didn't know the hatter all that well, though he'd been a help to them. Besides, he had planned to use his off shift time to talk to Mandi. It wasn't going to be an easy conversation, but they had not established what it was she wanted people to know or to 'remember' about them, and they needed to know. More than that, he didn't know what it was that they were doing. Given his choice, he would move her straight into his quarters, but he acknowledged that he might be moving a bit fast.

Rumplestiltsking was an old friend of Jefferson, one of the few people he had been able to deal with during the curse years. However, he didn't want to explain his sudden recovery in front of everyone. He also knew that Bae and Emma would take care of him. It would also help them to get the lay of the land, since no one was sure how long they were going to be here or how much freedom Young would allow them. "Sheriff, you might want to..." he waved a hand toward the rest of Jefferson's clothes, with a subtle hand to his throat. She nodded once, and grabbed them as the strange procession left the room.

"Now, my love," he said, gesturing to his wife to precede him. Rush slowly started to put an arm around Mandi's shoulder, giving her time to pull away if she wanted. She didn't and settled under it as they followed the other couple as far as their quarters, where they separated.

 

TJ directed Bae to help Jefferson toward the treatment bed. The hatter had tried to shake him off once he was sure of his balance, but Rumplestiltskin's son was just as stubborn as his father. Besides, there was something in Bae's expression, that the portal hopper took as an indication that perhaps it was best if he appeared more incapacitated than he was. It was always best to be underestimated.

It was really only when the cold surface met his skin that he realised his state of undress. "Emma, could you..." he asked, gesturing for the clothes she carried.

"Hold off on that for a minute," TJ said, as she came around the bed. She removed the pad she'd applied to his head, which had finally stopped bleeding, and examined the wound as she cleaned it up. "Doesn't look like stitches are necessary. No Frankenstein scar on your forehead for you," she joked.

"Oh, his stitches are quite even. They barely show at all," Jefferson said. Emma and Bae smiled just a little while TJ reconsidered the possibility of serious trauma and concussion.

"Now," she said, ignoring his statement. "What..." Her eyes struck the thick band of scar tissue on his throat. Tamara leaned closer, noticing as she did, that it appeared to go around the side of his neck. She touched it and he flinched, one hand catching hers.

"It's an old injury. Don't ask the question if you aren't ready for the answer," Jefferson told her. "Unlike the Queen of Hearts, I rarely lie." The intensity on his face set her back just a little.

"Well for now," she covered her confusion. "We're going to scan you and make sure that you didn't bruise or shake anything loose," she told him, picking up her pad.

"What happened?" Young said as he came through the door. "I heard the radio call."

"Nothing to worry about, Colonel," Bae said. "Common household accident."

"Mr. Jefferson..." TJ started, tapping a button and looked at the screen.

"Just Jefferson, Lieutenant, or may I call you Tamara?" he asked flirtatiously from the table.

"Jefferson," she acknowledged, ignoring the rest, though she smiled just a little. "Suffered a slip and fall in the shower."

"Apparently, even in deep space, the bathroom is the most dangerous room," Emma Swan commented. She wasn't immune to the byplay. She knew that Jefferson wasn't above flirting with anyone, but he didn't mean it particularly. He was a single father and nothing came before his daughter. She'd also seen the sour look that the colonel had given him. She didn't need a lesson in basic maths.

"What, no magic to fix..." Young started.

"What the Hell?!?!" TJ exclaimed, looking from the reading, to the screen, back to the readings. "This looks like..."

Jefferson gave her a cheeky grin. "Oh, that? I told you not to ask the question. It's nothing, really. I lost my head over a woman."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful feedback. This was written for a prompt based on TJ running a scan on Jefferson and seeing where the spine was severed. Please, read, respond, and all those lovely things. Ellynne, this is for you.


	66. Around Destiny

The door closed behind Rush and Mandi, giving her the first look at his quarters. "Not much," he told her as he looked around carefully. He was grateful that Belle had done his laundry and that he had put it away. It wasn't as if there was much there. It wasn't as if Rush spent much time in his quarters. There was a half finished book (that he was reading for the second time) on the nightstand along with a small pile of notebooks and pencils, and the small music player. For the first time, he was grateful that he had finally been able to put Gloria's picture away. She would always be his first love, but she would also want him to move on and have a life.

"It's not bad," Mandi said. She dropped her bag on the floor by the door and walked further in. "I expected balls of paper on the floor with notebooks all over the place and writing on the walls. How are you living without your whiteboards?"

"I have a disused corridor for that," Nicholas admitted. "Mandi, I...we need to talk about what we're doing. I don't want you to feel pressured into anything but we've little time and you have to decide what you want the crew to remember."

Mandi walked across the room and made her way around to the other side of the bed and sat down. "What do _you_ want, Nick?" she asked.

"Think you know that. I'm not good at expressing myself and where emotions are concerned, I'm useless. But then you knew that," he responded carefully.

"You never seemed to have trouble expressing yourself to me." She smiled and leaned back against his pillow. It wasn't making the conversation any easier to have. He swallowed slowly.

"What I know is that I want you in my life, for however you'll have me."

"And if what I want is all of it, all of this, all of you?" Mandi asked him.

"Then I suppose you can have me," Nick replied, as he came and sat down on his own side of the bed.

"Good.  I thought we had made a pretty good start last night, but I don't want to slow down, Nick. I've spent my whole life on slow, and now I want it all." Nick reached out for her, and pulled her down into a kiss. "Ummmm, that's more like it. I thought I was going to have to try to convince you again."

"What made you think that?" he asked, laying down next to her to move them closer together. After all, the teams were all working on the repairs, and he and Mandi'd had a long day and he wanted her to rest. There were still decisions to make, but it was hard to think long term when he had her stretched out next to him. He threw his radio randomly towards the table and turned to the woman beside him.

 

The moment the door closed behind them, Belle turned to Rumplestiltskin. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Or rather what have you done? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"What do you mean?" he asked mildly, though that trick had rarely worked.

"Magic," she accused. "Or did you think I wouldn't notice? When I went to the shower room, you couldn't stand. And don't tell me you regained your strength that fast. I've known you for too long. In fact, you should probably be laying down still."

"It's nothing to worry about, sweetheart, truly. Doctor Rush had a problem and I helped him with it."

"How is that, what problem?" she asked, allowing him to wrap his arm around her, though she wasn't giving in, not yet. Instead, Belle started urging him toward the bed.

"Rush still had magic and he wanted me to help him," Rumplestiltskin told her.

"What? How?"

"He has always had the capacity. My presence merely brought it out in him."

"The way the curse awakened the capacity in you? But Rush is from this world, I thought that this world had no magic before..."

"Before I brought it? Not entirely. Remember this was not a world of no magic, it never was, merely a world of very little magic. It is possible that there are others with the capacity, but nothing to ignite it."

"But what does that have to do with your current state, or how you are doing magic? I won't have you..."

"Falling down again? No need to worry about that. It's fairly simple, Rush asked me to drain the magic from him before he had an accident. He has some very odd ideas about the nature of magic, thinks that he is free of it. But it's no matter. Now, since I am back on my feet, not to mention back in my own body, perhaps..." he suggested, pulling her into his arms. "Unless you found you preferred..."

"Not at all," Belle assured him, looking up. "I do think you should be laying down."

"That is exactly what I had in mind," Rumplestiltskin replied, leading his wife to bed.

 

"You what?" TJ asked. "This is completely medically impossible." Emma and Bae looked at one another and smiled.

"It's not the first time I've been called that," Jefferson told her. "But then I'm used to believing in impossible things, of course, the usual six impossible things before breakfast."

"You, button it," Young said to the Hatter. "What's completely impossible? What's going on here?"

"His neck. Look," TJ said, showing him the scan. "There is scarring around the trachea, both arteries, the spinal cord, not to mention the chipping on the fifth vertebrae, it's just..."

"Lieutenant, layman's terms, remember?"

"This scan seems to indicate something that's completely impossible, that his head was...severed."

"I told you not to ask questions you didn't want the answers to. You see, I told you, it was a woman, well two of them. While running an errand for the Evil Queen, I ran afoul of the Queen of Hearts, and it was chop chop, off with his head. She never did have much of a sense of humour. And Regina betrayed me, of course, but then she and her mother were never on the best of terms." His voice had taken on a bit of a sing song, and Bae and Emma moved closer to him. It would be the wrong time for him to lose track of himself. It didn't happen anymore, not much.

"You're right this doesn't make sense," the Colonel said examining the clear line of scarring visible on the scan. "But none of this does. It's all too..."

"Fairy tale?" Emma asked. "Believe me, it doesn't get better. I'm still getting used to some of it."

"I thought you were born to this?" Young asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Not exactly, but that's a story you neither need, nor want to know. Meanwhile, is he going to live?"

"I...I'm not sure how he's alive now," TJ said with a shake of her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, thank you to all of you who are still with me. Just a little shorty tonight. Hope you enjoy and there will be more soon. You know what to do, please.


	67. Behind closed...bulkheads

 

"So, can you show us around the ship?" Bae asked casually as they all left the infirmary. Colonel Young had been called away to deal with some sort of military issue, muttering about fairy tales, and security protocols, but he'd not ordered them confined to quarters.

"Cassidy,". Emma groaned, rolling her eyes. Jefferson just laughed.

"What? It's my first space ship, probably my only."

TJ laughed. She had gotten at least some of the story from Lieutenant Scott, but like him, she wasn't sure exactly what she believed. But she decided to reserve judgement. "Well you guys are my first..."

"Fairy tale characters?" Emma suggested. "It doesn't get any easier. Trust me. _I_ still have trouble with it."

"Besides, we aren't the real characters. The kids of them, yeah. My pop? Sure. Jefferson, absolutely," Bae said. The hatter just nodded graciously. "Belle is a fairytale princess, and acts like it. We're more..."

"The next generation," Emma added, with a bit of a smile.

"But how much of that is real? I mean, castles, dragons..." TJ asked. She seemed genuinely interested and since she was showing them around, Emma just shrugged at her husband. It was really his question, having grown up in the Enchanted Forest, especially with Jefferson...well, he was being quiet for the moment.

"They leave out the ugly parts," Bae said. "Papa and I were dirt poor, living in a hovel, waiting for me to get called up and killed in the First Ogre War before he took the curse of the Dark One."

"Curse?" TJ asked.

"See how much they leave out? My father wasn't born a magical creature, like the fairies, or even the dwarves."

"Dwarves, like real dwarves, as opposed to..."

"Remember the guy in the diner who was all for giving you a hard time?" Emma asked. TJ nodded. "Grumpy." was all the answer she gave. The medic looked like she wanted to disbelieve, but they all looked perfectly serious.

"And there really are seven of them," Jefferson added for the first time. He'd been keeping his own counsel since they left the infirmary.  It was always difficult to see where his mind was. He was better, but there were still times when he wasn't exactly himself. "I suppose eight if you count Tiny, but he's adopted."

"And they do mine, or they used to. Sneezy's the pharmacist, runs the drugstore, Sleepy has the hardware shop, Grumpy, Leroy, does general maintenance around town," Emma listed.

"Doc is a GP," Jefferson added. "He's my daughter's doctor."

"So, if you are all from this magical world, how did you get here?" the medic asked as she hit the lock plate on the door they had stopped before, and waved them into observation. "I'll show you mine," she told them as she watched the three take in the view.  "If you'll tell me about yours."

 

Nick Rush lay in a more or less boneless heap on his bed, a contented smile on his face, and Amanda Perry, naked, half draped over him. "So, Doctor Rush, have I sufficiently demonstrated what it is I want from you?"

"Not certain. Might need a couple more..." She kissed him, ending the sentence definitively.

"Just in case you had any..." There was a knock on the bulkhead and a voice from beyond.

"Hey Rush." It was Eli.

Before Rush could say or do anything, Mandi flipped the duvet over them and called out, "Come."

A moment later, Eli Wallace came through the door. "Hey Rush, Colonel Young is looking for you, you aren't..." To give the young man credit, he stuttered to a stop and tried to look somewhere, anywhere, else. "You weren't answering your...I see you were...I'll just go and..."

Rush just smiled. He was a private man, generally, but he couldn't be embarrassed about being caught in bed with a beautiful woman. He had to admit, if only in the darkest corner of his soul,  that the only thing that could have made it better would have been if it had been Young. Rush knew exactly what Mandi had been about when she called Eli in, she was impressing upon him that she didn't care who knew. Not that it mattered, soon enough the boy wouldn't remember any of this. "Tell the colonel that I'll..."

"We'll," Mandi corrected.

"We'll be along in just a bit."

"Yeah, I'll just...you..." Eli stuttered, backing his way out and closing the door behind him.

"Now, Doctor Rush, do I need to make myself any clearer?" Mandi asked, looking down at him.

"I'll accept that it's what you want. Think the only question is, are we goin' to bother with appearances?"

 

On the other side of the door, Eli was wishing he'd been anywhere else. Next time, Volker could come and look for him, he was absolutely done! It had been bad enough when it had been Gold and Belle in the shower. It had been Rush's body, but he could try to justify it as they were married, and like any other person who did it when they were in someone else's body. This time there was no such luck. It had been Rush, in Rush's body, with a very beautiful Doctor Amanda Perry, both of them clearly engaged in a hell of a lot more than he ever wanted to think about in the same context with Rush, ever.

If someone had asked him a day ago, he'd have told them that Rush wasn't interested in anything so...human. The man had been married once, Eli had found that out, and that she had died. He just guessed that was the end of it. But seriously, not only a woman, but a beautiful, brilliant scientist. First, Gold with Belle, now Rush with Dr. Perry. "Damn, and I can't even get a date," he muttered under his breath. "Not enough brain bleach in the world."

"Eli, did you get Rush? I need to talk to him," Young called over the radio.

"I gave him the message, He'll be..."

"Go get him. What can he possibly be doing that's more important than..."

"I guarantee you don't want to know," Eli replied.

 

Rumplestiltskin and Belle curled up in their own temporary quarters. It was comfortable enough, but they were both looking forward to being back in their own home, their own bed. True to her word, Belle had made absolutely certain he lay down. Now they were cuddled up contently around each other while he recounted Rush's theory for her.

"Is that even possible?" his lady asked. "I mean, different realms I understand, more or less. But this matter of doubles..."

"I'd have thought not. Certainly I've not encountered it before. Perhaps I will ask Jefferson. He's more experience with realm travel. Of course, it could explain why travel to this realm was so difficult, I've no idea. I'd always put it down to the limited magic here. One thing does concern me. His father," Rumplestiltskin shuddered and Belle tightened her grip.

It had been after Pan's death that he'd ever so much as mentioned the man. Even then it had taken time, coming out in bits and pieces when he awoke from nightmares. He'd also had a very long, very private talk with Bae, at her suggestion, a talk that had done a lot to stabilize their relationship and make it stronger. Belle wasn't sure what had been said, she didn't need to know. All that mattered was some of the ghosts had been exorcised. "They are both dead, so it doesn't matter anymore, now does it?" she said, pulling him closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for reading this. I will admit, I'm having a really rubbish day, and the writing is what is keeping me from screaming and running in circles. Please do the usual, it helps.


	68. Storytime.

 

 

 

"Okay, so you've seen what I have to show you," TJ said. They were sitting in the momentarily empty observation deck, watching the galaxy go by. She'd thought briefly about taking them down to Brody's still/social club, but she wasn't entirely sure that they would talk around others and she was curious.

"So, once upon a time..." Bae started.

"Cassidy," the warning from his wife was clear.

"Couldn't resist, sorry. But seriously, it's pretty simple. The Evil Queen, Regina, who you met, was defeated by Snow White and David, who she really does call Charming, it's a nickname. To get her revenge, Regina cast the most powerful curse of all time to take away everyone's happiness," he told the medic, who was looking a little incredulous.

"BUt how could...how does that work out, exactly?"

"Mostly by separating couples who had a special kind of love, especially Snow and David. But all curses have a breaking point, sort of..."

"Like a backdoor in a computer program," TJ asked.

"Pretty much. So for twenty eight years the curse held. Then Emma came and broke it. That simple."

"Well, that's the short version at any rate," Jefferson interjected. "And now, we are here, for the moment anyway." He was watching the stars, but Bae and Emma knew he was getting restless. The hatter didn't like being away from Grace. The first time she had gone to a sleepover he had practically been beside himself, and that was only across town.

"Soon, Jefferson," Emma said.

"Does that mean you have a way to get back? I mean, could you get us home, or at least those that want to go?" TJ asked. There was both wariness and excitement on her face. "I mean, magic?"

"Afraid not," the hatter said. "Just us, and Rumple and Belle. This kind of travel requires balance, that and magic, a lot of magic. That is why we brought Doctor Rush his...friend."

"Yes, that's another thing I don't understand. According to one of the science teams, Doctor Amanda Perry is a quadriplegic. So how..."

"Would you believe, the Blue Fairy?"

 

Rumplestitlskin and Belle were settled in for a cuddle when there was a knock on the...hatch. With a flick of his wrist, he restored their clothes before they both sat up and he called for them to enter. The sorcerer was not particularly surprised to find that it was Rush, with Doctor Perry. He imagined the man would be doing very little without the young lady for sometime. Certainly he had been that way when he had gotten Belle back.

"Young has called a meeting. I would imagine you are the subject. Probably most of the senior staff will be there. The rest of the crew is either working on the repair crews or on down time. Where are the others?"

"They aren't back yet, thought I doubt Jefferson was seriously hurt, so I suspect they are doing a bit of reconnaissance."

"Makes sense, but..."

"But now is the best time to get the potion into the water supply," the sorcerer supplied. "And you, Doctor Perry? What is it that the ship should remember of you?"

Amanda had been giving a lot of thought to that. It wasn't often that a person got to rewrite their history like that. Then there was Rush. Despite earlier, she knew that Nick was pretty intensely private, and also that the relationship would need time and some actual work. Before she had just been making a point, but now Amanda knew what she wanted. "Here is what I think..." she began.

 

"So there I was, stuck in Wonderland with no way back and I get caught. Wonderland is the opposite of straightforward. Anyway, I was dragged before the Queen of Hearts..."

"You said she was Regina's mother?" TJ asked. It was fascinating. She wasn't sure what she did and didn't believe but it was interesting nonetheless.

"Yes, Cora was from our world, not actually sure how she ended up in Wonderland, though I would bet Regina was involved. Rumple, no doubt knows, but I've never asked. Cora is a powerful sorceress so she..."

"Lieutenant Johansen. please report to the briefing room," the radio blared.

"On my way," she said. "Damn, hopefully you can finish telling me later. Right now, I'd best take you back."

"Or at least close enough to give us directions," Emma responded. "These corridors all look the same to me." They rose and left the observation deck behind.

 

When the three of them reached the corridor they had come from, Bae suggested checking in with his father and with Belle.

"You do that," she told her husband. "Not me. I've walked in on entirely too much of your...er..."

"Not my turn, old man," Jefferson said. Not that he found it traumatic the way Emma did. After all, Rumple wasn't _his_ father in law, and thank all the gods for that. But Bae had the best chance of not getting turned into anything or blasted into another part of the ship if his father was distracted, or interrupted.

With a theatrical sigh at the two of them, he knocked on the door, while the other two stayed far enough back in the hall not  to see (Emma) or be in the firing line, (Jefferson). The imp was very much better, but it had been a long day and the end of a long, complicated journey.

"Oh good, you're back," Belle said brightly, opening the door almost immediately and fully dressed. "We are just getting ready to deal with the potion." Emma shook her head. How did he mange to get all the luck, and her none?

The three of them stepped in just in time to see Rumplestiltskin doing...something with the containers they had brought. They glowed just briefly, then faded. "We are ready now," he said. "Rush believes that this is the best time."

"I agree," Emma said. "It was pretty quiet on the way here, I didn't see a lot of people out and about."

"Yes, we are on the edge of the inhabited living quarters here. Rush likes his privacy," the sorcerer said. "Take this." He handed a container to his son, then Jefferson, and Emma. "Belle, you..."

"I am coming with you. You might need an extra hand."

"Belle," he said trying for patient.

"Rumple, I'm not being left behind." The diminutive librarian put her hands on her hips and glared at him. There were very few things that could change the mind of Rumplestiltskin, once it had been made up, and fewer still that would challenge him, but she was the one and probably only, who did it on a regular basis.

"Belle..." he said, softly moving to reach for her, but she backed away.

"If we are going to get this done as quickly and quietly as possible, I suggest we leave now." With that she turned and started out the door, leaving the rest to follow behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little update. Thank you for reading. Please, enjoy, comment, all those sorts of things.


	69. Magic and meetings

 The trip from their temporary quarters to the corridor leading to the water storage facility was unremarkable, much like most of the corridors. They saw no one, heard nothing at all 'til they got near. There were two guards standing outside the access.

"Why is the water being guarded?" Emma whispered.

"There was something about water theft and rationing," Rumplestiltskin told them vaguely. "I wasn't paying attention to the details. I suppose they are worried about someone tampering with their water supply. Oh, wait, we are tampering with it. Ah, well," he smirked as he stepped into their line of sight.

"I'm sorry sir, this area is..."

"Sleep," Rumplestiltskin ordered with a flick of the wrist. Bae and Jefferson barely had time to drop the containers in their effort to catch the two men before they hit the deck.

"A little warning next time," his son grumbled, dragging the man aside.

 

"What is so very important that we are having a meeting now?" Rush asked as he came into the briefing room, Doctor Perry right beside him. "Or should I say what is so important that it cannot wait 'til morning."

"Thought you didn't sleep, Rush," Young snarked back. "Right now, we cannot get in contact with Earth, we have been attacked by aliens, and there are several...people here who are unaccounted for by any means I know of. I think that is more than enough reason to interrupt your...whatever it was you were doing. And what is _she_ doing here?" he growled, eyeballing the woman beside him.

"Doctor Perry is here because _I_ wanted her here. Besides, as I was fairly certain you were calling this bloody meeting to discuss our guests, I thought she might have insights to share."

"Yes, and what about our guests? You and they got here somehow, do you think they can get us home the same way?"

"No. I don't understand how it works, that's Jefferson's doing, but I know it doesn't work that way.  It's not like a gate, or even a teleport. They can only take back the same number that came through, thus Doctor Perry's presence. Without someone to stay behind, they cannot take Belle back with them," he said very slowly and distinctly, as if by enunciating, he could somehow force Young to understand.

"I know that is what he told TJ," Young snarled at him. "That doesn't mean I believe him, or that I believe in any of this..." He waved vaguely.

"Sir," Scott spoke up. "I don't know what happened, frankly, I don't care. These guys saved our bacon. I say we give them the benefit of the doubt."

"TJ?" Young asked.

"I've got nothing, really, though there is absolutely no medical explanation for why Mr. Jefferson is still alive. According to my scans, he was completely decapitated. Outside maybe a Goa'uld sarcophagus, I know of nothing that can do that, and I'm not even sure that would work. But besides that, he's got none of the other signs. It's like Belle, no residual radiation, nothing that speaks to him even having ever been off the planet. He's completely Earth based human."

"So what are we saying here?" Camille Wray asked. She had gotten a little bit of a briefing before the rest had shown up, but she was still confused. And if there was anything Camille Wray hated, it was confusion. She liked everything nice, neat, and orderly. It had always caused her problems with Rush, who was chaos incarnate, or at least when it came to bureaucracy. "We are going to believe in fairy tales now? And you, Doctor Perry, if that is really who you..."

"Fer Chrissake, Camille," Rush snarled. "You'd best start believing something. You can see who she is, you've probably reviewed her file. Who the hell else do you think she is?"

"She could..."

"I've known Amanda Perry since she was an undergraduate. And I was there. I watched her get out of her bloody chair and walk for the first time. Do you honestly think _I_ could be fooled?"

"Maybe because you..."

"I'd not finish that," Rush growled. He was getting angrier by the second, his good mood after a little quiet time with Mandi completely blown away, and he could feel the tickle coming back under his skin. Mandi put a hand on his arm, calming him just a bit.

"Ms. Wray," Mandi said, addressing her for the first time. "You could ask me anything you like, the details of my life, my work, whatever. But my life is an open book and the only person in this room who would understand my work is Nick, and you don't trust him. Just a couple of days ago, I was confined to the chair I've been in for most of my life. Now, thanks to 'those people' I am walking, breathing on my own, and in the one place I want to be more than anything in the entire universe. So, if I am uninterested in questioning the miracle too much, I'm sure you understand."

Camille Wray looked at her. She really didn't know what to make of the woman, but she was fairly certain that if Rush, who, as he said, had known her for years, and quite well, from what she knew, said it was her, she had no good reason to disbelieve him. The selfish part of her was focusing on the fact that if anyone could help Rush figure out the engines, it was Doctor Perry. It wasn't lost on anyone how close they were standing to one another. It could be that he was the one person Perry knew on the ship, or it could be something more. Camille filed that away for later, after all, it might prove useful. The rest of her was wondering how she could use the others to get herself back home. There had to be a way.

 

"Okay, now what?" Emma Swan asked after the potion had all been added.

"Now, just a touch of magic..." Rumplestiltskin said. for a moment there was a little flash of purple. "There, just a tiny spell, to make sure people take their medicine." He gave a familiar grin, or at least familiar to those who had known him, before. "And, we are done. Prop those two up against the walls." Bae and Jefferson moved to comply. With a flick of the wrist, their eyes opened and they remained standing. The sorcerer ushered the entire party down the corridor before snapping his fingers.

"Man, this post is even more boring than usual," one of the guards was saying to the other as they slipped out of sight. "I'm zoning out here."

"Seems like it, must be the adrenaline let down after the fight or something. Hey Jones, why don't I run down to the mess and get us a couple of cups of fake coffee?"

"Sounds good, not like anything's happening here. Besides, suddenly I'm kind of thirsty."

"Me too, be back in a few."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you lot for being patient with me. I'm getting there slowly. Con Crud sucks. Please, read and do all those happy things.


	70. Breakfast together

 

 

 

Morning on Destiny. Breakfast proved more interesting for some values of interesting than usual. After the meeting the evening before, Rush and Mandi had returned to the console room. He had wanted to check a couple of programs he had running, including the one with the extra parameters set out based on what he'd learned from Rumplestiltskin. Mandi had set herself up at his side to start running through the engine diagnostic reports, to see what could be done with them. Rush was certain they were not running efficiently, and he was right. He'd also introduced her, vaguely, to Volker, who happened to still be there.

It was only when Eli wandered in, yawning, that the scientists realised they had worked though the night. Mandi had said nothing, tied up in her own work, and when he questioned her, she pled distraction with her work. "I think I've almost got something."

"Later. First, let's face breakfast," he told her. Having heard tales of the food, she was in no hurry. They'd managed to avoid more than a bit of alien fruit the night before, being busy with the ship and other things, and they'd supplemented it by snacking on the leftover bacon that Mary had thrust on them back in their quarters.

It was only the promise that they'd take no longer than necessary, and then she could take the reports with her to their quarters afterward, to drag her away. Rush made a note to remember that she was just like him, meaning he would actually have to pay twice as much attention to things like meals and sleep than he usually did, which would still be half as much as most normal people. So they had gone back to their quarters, allowing Mandi to do a quick wash up and find something to put her hair back. As they were leaving, Belle and Rumplestiltskin, along with the rest of their party, came out of their room. "All right?" Rush asked. They all knew what he was asking.

"Perfectly. You and Doctor Perry will need to take the potion that was tucked in one of those bags by Regina."

"The one with the coffee," Jefferson put in. "I was there."

"It will keep you from getting caught when the memory potion takes effect. Now, I suppose we should go and subject ourselves to what passes for food here."

Under normal circumstances, Rush looked forward to breakfast in the mess as a barely necessary evil, but the idea of him and Gold in the same place, tweaking Young's nose appealed to his vindictive streak, making the other side of it, the looks, the whispers, almost bearable, that and Mandi.

The mess was about a third full when they all came in. _At least the whole crew isn't here_ , he thought. _Never get out of here_. For some, like Park, and Camille Wray, who had heard about what was happening, at least some of it, it was the first time they had seen the two men together, or had actually seen the other man at all, at least his body. Gold had changed back into his suit at his wife's request ('You don't have to be intimidating all the time,' she said), and was leaning slightly on his cane, looking cool and elegant. Unlike Rush, who looked like he'd slept in his clothes, which was more or less his normal state. It only served to make the resemblance more and less distracting.

"Wow," Park said once she got over the sight. "You really do look...I mean..." She wasn't even sure what she wanted to say, but Gold decided to be gracious. She was a pleasant enough person.

"Thank you, Miss Park," He said as they settled at a long, empty table and the engineer waved her goodbye. Moments later they were served bowls of...something, and cups of not quite coffee. Belle looked at it in dismay.

"Looks kind of like what they served at the group home," Emma said, eyeing it with suspicion, as if it was likely to sprout tentacles, though if it did, she at least wouldn't be expected to eat it.

Seeing the distress on his wife's face, Rumplestiltskin leaned in to address the company, first making certain they were at least momentarily unobserved. The rest were either dropping off their dishes, or in the case of Camille, looking or pretending to look over a duty rota. "Does anyone mind if I..." He made a small gesture, a flick of the wrist.

"Oh God, please," Emma said vehemently, having just tried the faux coffee and barely managed not to spit, causing Bae and Jefferson to both set their cups back on the table. "Anything." With a whisper and a small gesture, the bowls were emptied of whatever... and filled with oatmeal, which, while not everyone's favourite, was close enough to pass casual inspection and much better than what it had been. Then it was the coffee (though for Belle, Jefferson and himself, it became tea).

"I'm going to wish for that, as soon as you go," Rush said, taking a sip of coffee. He knew the supplies they brought through wouldn't last nearly as long as he would like, especially not with his addiction. He'd gotten better, but only because he couldn't stomach the fake stuff.

"It's simple enough magic," Rumplestiltskin said. "I could..."

"Mind if I join you?" Camille asked, holding her 'coffee' in one hand and her clipboard in the other. "The resemblance is really remarkable, I wasn't sure I believed it."

"What do you want, Camille?" Rush closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep her from getting to him. As much as he hated it, Rumplestiltskin had been right, the magic was not gone, and seemed to be creeping back at a steady rate. Oh, he would probably never wield what the other man did, but it wasn't going to be easy, and apparently it wasn't going to go away. No matter what else, he needed to get the man alone to ask, and soon, see if there was some way to rid him of it.

"Miss Wray," Rumplestiltskin said as his icy politiest. "My son, Baelfire, his wife, Emma and that's Jefferson."

"Nice to meet you all, please call me Camille," she told them, sitting down on the end, clearly taking it as an invitation. "Since you are here, I should find some place in the work rota for you. That means I will need to know something about your skills." Clearly the woman was on a fishing expedition.

"They'll not be here long enough, I told you that, Camille," Rush growled.

"Yeah, love to stay...not really, actually," Jefferson said at his manic best. "Got to get back. Grace likes me home for tea. Besides, she will never forgive me if I miss the camp out. She's staying with her foster parents, and the woman is afraid of spiders and other creepy crawlies," he said conspiratorially. "Doesn't make her the best chaperone for anything outdoors."

"I'd almost forgot," Bae agreed. "I'm chaperoning too...Henry will..."

"It's not Henry you need to worry about, it's Regina," Emma put in. "Unless she can get Robin to stand in, she'll never forgive you for making her hike in the woods and sleep in a tent. Neither will the kids. She's not exactly fun during these things."

"Camping trip?" Camille asked. She was trying to learn as much as she could about these...people as she could.

"Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts," Belle told her. "Both troops are small, with a certain amount of overlap in chaperones, so it's just easier to do them together, Spring and Fall."

It wasn't what Camille wanted to hear. She'd not really thought about the families. After last night's meeting, she'd been able to think of little else but the strange people and what Rush had said. The same number of people. But it wasn't nearly as easy as she thought. She knew for certain there would be no way to convince one of them to stay, but she wanted to go home. She'd never signed up for this.

"So you also have a child, Mr. Jefferson?" she asked, as if filling in a dossier, which she probably was.

"Just Jefferson, and yes, a daughter, Grace." He pulled out his pocket watch and flipped open the cover to a picture of a blond girl in what looked like a period costume, like one of those medieval themed places.

"Is that the one from the Winter Solstice court?" Belle asked, casting a glance over. "You said you were going to replace the old one."

"That's the one," he said.

Before Camille could ask more though, Young came in. He looked a little surprised to see them all there, but as he'd no call to have them confined after they'd saved their lives (and he'd tried to think of one, really he had, that wouldn't make his own staff angry). "Gang's all here, I see," the colonel said. Apparently he was trying for pleasant. "I'm surprised you are sitting and eating, Rush, and not a notebook in sight."

"Yes, well, I'm trying to prevent Mandi from following me example. Thought I'd try something different."

"And I'm still enjoying being able to taste, not to mention feed myself, even this." As if to illustrate, she picked up the spoon.

"Yes, well..." Young wasn't exactly sure what to say to that. "Hey Becker, can I get some water?" he asked over his shoulder. "Thirsty this morning for some reason. I just wanted to say if you don't want to be the center of attention, you might want to go soon, before we start the morning briefing. We..." Young stopped, a strange look on his face, as he took the cup from the young man. "Damn, I must be doing something right, or wrong. I could swear I smell coffee. Anyway, Rush, you and Doctor Perry," he was being cautious, not wanted to over step with the scientist, especially considering what Rush had said about her engine expertise. Probably best not to get on her bad side as well as Rush's.

"We are heading for a couple of hours of sleep," he said, giving Mandi a look as she started to protest. "We worked through the night. Eli can give you the repair report. Things are coming back together pretty well, there was not too much damage. The communications corridor is still out of power, but Brody's trying to recreate the blown part from cannabalised bits from one of the depressurised sections. We are going to have to do some more exploratory expeditions soon for parts. Now, I suppose we'd best get on with it. " They all rose together, even Camille, and got rid of their dishes. Emma looked back as they were leaving. Ms. Wray was still standing by where they put the dishes, watching.

"What is it?" Bae asked, slipping an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Not sure, but I don't trust that woman. She wasn't telling us the entire truth."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy. I don't think we have much left to go, but I am out of town next week, so I'm not sure what the schedule will be. Please, read respond, and all of those things.


	71. Manuevering

 

 

After separating, Rush and Doctor Perry headed back to his quarters, or at least Camille assumed that was where they were going. If asked before, Camille Rey would have said she had a good handle on what made the surly scientist tick, though she would be the first to admit she didn't understand him. Now she wasn't so sure. Certainly there was something between him and the formerly quadriplegic expert that she had thought Rush incapable of since his wife's death, though that had been before she knew the man. Camille did her homework, and she did know about Doctor Perry. Rush himself had written the recommendation that had gotten her into the SGC. The HR director had read it, and had honestly been surprised to find out about her disability. The man had failed to mention it in his letter, but he'd been accused before of not paying attention to the world around him if it was not related to his work. Still, he was right about her and the engines, if anyone was going to figure it out, she was the right one for the job.

But Camille didn't want to wait. She wanted to be home, with Sharon, with her parents, even though they wanted nothing to do with her. It was a value they had worked hard to instill in her, respect and care for family and her elders, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop. But it was like all her hard work, the accomplishments, the promotions, were nothing to them, or nothing when balanced against one disappointment, the disappointment of her being gay. They had at least stopped hanging up on Sharon. It didn't stop hurting, but she had not given up hope, not completely.

The mission for her was clear, getting back. She was no explorer, no scientist. Back at the SGC was where she could do the most good, just as soon as she found out their secret and made them take her home. It couldn't be magic, that wasn't possible. Camille kept telling herself that.

Instead of following that line of thought, she waited until after the meeting, and then had gone in search of the visitors. Camille figured her first step would be to talk to them, individually if possible. Of course she had spent time with Belle and her husband, before he had become something more...she wasn't sure what, or before he stopped pretending anyway, she wasn't sure. It would have been easier if they had been under arrest. Then she could interrogate them, but Young hadn't even put them under guard. Not but what it would have proved awkward. Besides the fact that they weren't certain how to do it with Gold's apparent powers, you don't arrest people who have saved your ass without a good reason. After asking one or two people, she established that the entire group was on the observation deck.

When the door opened she was surprised. Belle was sitting on one of the chairs, delicately mending what looked like the blouse of one of the civilians. Greer was standing in front of her, and next to her, her husband was doing something with what looked a little bit like a spinning top and a long roll that might have been medical cotton packing.

"Thanks, Miz Belle. Got to admit, we're gonna' miss this when you're gone. Least I've got socks and ...other things fixed. Pity you can't do shoes," he told them. Camille approached silently, as if she didn't want to intrude.

"Rumple?" Belle asked. The man, Mr. Gold, Rumplestiltskin, whatever or whoever he was, looked up from what he was doing, to where she was looking.

"Oh," he said, and waved the hand not occupied. The crack across the top of the boot disappeared in what might have been a puff of smoke. _I didn't just see that, I didn't just see that,_ Camille repeated to herself. _There is an explanation_.

"Thank you, Mr...er... not sure what to call you anymore. You sure as hell ain't a small town lawyer."

"Actually I am, it's just not all I am. Gold will do, Sergeant, it has worked for my daughter in law this long. You stood up for my lady with Telford. A mended boot is the least I can do."

"Never let it be said he didn't do the least that he could," Emma Swan said, smiling at him. Clearly needling each other was a family pastime.

"Exactly. Wouldn't want to ruin my reputation, would we? Just don't mention it, Sergeant, not to anyone," he said turning back to what he was doing.

Emma Swan, her husband, and Matt Scott had been sitting nearby, talking. It was then that she noticed Gold's son was doing something similar to his father, but using multiple strings or something. Jefferson, the final member of the party unaccounted for, was sitting by himself doing something with a very battered top hat. Seeing as he was alone, Camille decided to start with him.

"Hello, this seat taken?" she asked, indicating the seat near her.

"Not at all, my lady," he said, rising. Camille wasn't exactly sure what to say to that, so she seated herself and watched him drop back carelessly into his seat, and pick the hat back up.

"That's an interesting hat," she started carefully. "What are you..."

"Making sure it's ready," he answered, not taking his eyes off what he was doing now that she was seated. "Got to be ready, need to get home. Grace is waiting. Wouldn't do to be away too long. She hates it when I miss tea."

"Grace is fine, Jefferson," Bae/Neal said. "She knows where you are, and who you are with." It was said in a reassuring tone, but the look the man sent her was clearly meant as a warning. Camille decided to try a different tactic.

"How old is your daughter?" she asked. The man gave a smile that was probably devastating to women who were interested, but there was something about his eyes that wasn't quite right.

"Depends on how you look at it," he told her. "Either thirty-nine, or eleven, but then that's true of all, well, most of us. Age is an awkward business when you spend twenty-eight years living the same time over and over. Probably good that I was mostly mad or I would have gone there permanently, just to relieve the boredom."

Camille didn't know what to say. She had been told who he was, or who he thought he was, but she didn't know what to think about his statement. "Ahhh, I don't..."

"She's in the same class as our son, Henry," Bae said. "Why the interest?" Scott was watching the exchange, as was Greer, both appearing curious, but neither likely to come in on her side. Matt was at least less obvious about it, but Greer would probably never forgive her attempt to depose Young. Actually he would probably forgive Rush first, and he actively hated the scientist.

"Just trying to find out about the newest people on Destiny. I know you say you won't be here that long, but..." Camille shrugged. "Knowing about people is part of my job."

Bae and Emma both looked at Matt, clearly trying to see if this was normal behavior. Belle's hand was resting on her husband's arm, and she wondered briefly if she was in danger. She had seen what happened with Greer's boot, and had heard what he had done with the aliens. It had to be some kind of tech, but Rush didn't know about it, or said he didn't, and Camille needed that secret. The only one who wasn't looking was Jefferson. He was still doing whatever it was he was doing with the hat.

There was a lot of unspoken communication going around the room. Finally Emma Swan stood up and stretched. "I'm going to get a drink, anyone?"

"It's not tea, but..." Jefferson said with a sort of smile. The rest agreed, except for Greer, who said he needed to go on duty and said his goodbyes before heading off, giving Camille a hard look in passing.

"I'm off to sleep, myself," Scott said. "Night duty."

"Camille, care to give me a hand?" The sheriff's tone made it clear it wasn't a request. The woman smiled and started out with her. They were about halfway to the mess before Emma Swan said anything. "I don't know what game you're playing, but you need to leave Jefferson out of it," she said conversationally.

"I'm not..." Camille protested but Emma cut her off.

"Don't care. Maybe you are just doing your job. It doesn't matter to me. We will all be out of your hair soon enough. What you need to know is this. Jefferson is the Mad Hatter, and it's not because he has an anger management problem. He was separated from his daughter against his will, and ever since, he doesn't handle being away from her well. That man is holding it together, but he doesn't need a stranger asking questions, pushing him closer to the edge by reminding him how far he is from her."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. My intention was just to find out about you all," Camille said at her most sincere. She didn't think the sheriff bought it, but the blond just nodded.

"All right. You can ask me whatever questions you want, between here and when we get back. One time offer and I don't guarantee I'll answer, but I won't lie. It's better than you are likely going to get from Rumplestiltskin. I'd take it, at least if you are attached to your current number of limbs."

"What does that mean?"

"He tends to turn people he doesn't like into snails. Jefferson is his friend." The implications were clear. Camille nodded and started formulating her questions. Clearly she needed another tactic. Perhaps it was time to tackle Rush. Surely he owed her a favour or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry about the delay. Been out of town dealing with family. But I am back home and back in the saddle. Please enjoy and comment. It is getting very close to the end.
> 
>  
> 
> Oh, bonus points if you know what Rumple and Bae are doing.


	72. Once upon Destiny

After her conversation with Emma Swan, Camille had a lot to think about. That these people were real, or at least they believed...Still it was hard to credit. But where had they come from then? Not to mention the how and why. Technology, alien technology, was something that she had gotten used to. The question was, how real was this? Surely there must be some kind of science to it. One thing she was certain of, they were expecting to be gone and soon. That meant she needed to do something and do it now.

Camille left the group, having acquired a couple more visitors, on the observation deck. The man, Gold, (there was no way she could refer to him as Rumplestiltskin) was apparently spinning, while making the odd disparaging comment about their level of basic survival skills, quieted by his wife. Still, there was nothing for her there. There was no way she was going to get anywhere with him. Nick Rush was another matter, at least she hoped so. He had gone back to his quarters, presumably with Doctor Perry. She wasn't entirely sure what the relationship was, but she didn't much care either. Still, his quarters seemed as good a place as any to start looking. The problem would be separating the two of them. Rush, she could probably reason with on his own. His only real loyalty was to _Destiny_ , and Camille figured that he would probably just as soon be rid of her as she was to be gone.

 

"Hey Mom, they aren't back," Henry shouted from the back porch of the pink Victorian where he had found Mary. "I hope they hurry. The campout is in five hours."

"I'm sure they will be back as soon as they can," the former companion told him. She was still staying in the big house at the express invitation of Emma and Bae, at least until everyone was back where they belonged. After all, she was bound to worry, and they understood. At least this way she would know that Amanda was safe for the moment on the other side.

"I know," Henry said, lowering his voice as his mother came up the driveway. "Mom's not really..." He shrugged, and patted absently at the table that had sidled up to him.

"Well, since they aren't back yet, we should get you to school. It's a half day already, you don't need to miss more. Mary," she nodded in greeting. The other woman nodded back politely. But as Henry started off the porch, the overly leggy piece of furniture made to follow him. " **No** ," Regina ordered sharply. "You are not taking Rush's accidental mutant table home with us." As if it understood, the eight legged purple monstrosity scuttled back behind Henry as if cowering.

  
"Mom, you hurt its feelings," he said, turning to give it a pat on its glossy surface. "It's okay, she didn't mean anything by it, did you, Mom?"

Regina looked at her almost twelve year old son, opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, and stared. She couldn't actually believe he wanted her to apologise to Rush's accident. It was a mobile piece of lawn furniture, by all that was magical, not a pet. Still, there was no point in upsetting her son. He was already worried about his other parents, not to mention his grandfather, Belle, and his best friend's father.

Not but that she was a little concerned herself and not just because she didn't want to go camping (which she didn't). Regina had mostly settled her differences with Emma, and though she would rather swallow her tongue than admit it, she had a certain amount of affection for the old sorcerer who had been her mentor. They understood each other. Still, Regina was aware of exactly how far Rumplestiltskin would go to get himself and his family home. Nothing stood between that, not and survive intact.

"Sorry, but Henry, you can't bring it home. First, you are on your way to school, and second it won't fit in the Mercedes. It can keep Mary company."

"You heard her, sorry," he said. The table scuttled back to where the companion was sitting in one of the wicker chairs on the porch. Regina shuddered. Damn thing had too many legs and watching it move was never going to be less than creepy. Before she could say anything else, she turned to the sound of footsteps. David Nolan was coming up the driveway.

"Hey Regina, Henry. Nothing yet?"

"Nope," Henry said giving his other grandfather a hug as the man came onto the porch.

"I wouldn't worry. I'm sure they will be back soon. Miss Mary, how are you doing?" he asked, patting the mutant table as he passed.

 _Has everyone adopted the damn thing?_ Regina thought. _They keep it up, we are never going to get it turned back, and how am I going to explain **that** to Rumple?_

"I'm fine, thank you. I've been with Mandi long enough to know at least some of this. If I had to guess, they went back into FTL, that's faster than light, and are waiting to drop back into normal space. Don't ask me to explain how it works, but I kind of understand at least enough to think it's too soon to be concerned about."

"Thanks. See, nothing to worry about. Actually I dropped by because my wife wanted to invite you to dinner tonight. She says you shouldn't have to cook for just yourself. Besides, Regina, I was going to offer to sub for you tonight if they weren't back. I know you aren't...I've got more woodcraft than you do," he finished as diplomatically as he could, trying not to put his boot more firmly in his mouth. Fortunately for him, Regina wasn't the least bit offended, or if she was, it was not enough to reject a chance to get out of it.

"Certainly Charming," she said, trying not to show how relieved she was. "I'm sure that the kids will...er...learn more from you than from me."

David didn't fail to miss the look of relief on both Regina's and Henry's faces. "Great. Besides, I was kind of hoping to get Robin to come along and help. Roland's not old enough so...."

"I am certain he and I can get that settled," Regina smiled. Roland had been recovering from a bout of the 'flu, and she was pretty sure that the two of them would have a better time at home with movies than anyone would have with her in the woods.

"Good. Henry, I'll pick you up after school and get your stuff. And Miss Mary, Snow will come around to pick you up around 5:30," David said, content that everything was now under control.

"Oh, she doesn't need..."

"It's nothing, believe me. With me on the camping trip, she'll be bored stiff. Besides, between us, she feels like she hasn't been able to help much. It gives her something she can do."

"In that case, I accept," Mary agreed.

 

Camille stood outside Rush's quarters. She had already double checked that he was not back at work. Better this way, or so she kept telling herself. The problem was she wasn't particularly anxious to have confirmation of her suspicions about him and Doctor Perry, especially if it involved interrupting something. That would definitely start the conversation off on the wrong foot. Taking a deep breath, she stepped up to knock, only to have the hatch slide open under her hand.

"Oh, uh," she stuttered, looking into the equally surprised face of Doctor Amanda Perry. Behind her, Camille saw....actually more of Nick Rush than she ever had or ever wanted to. He was wearing his usual jeans slung low on his hips, and seemed to be in the process of putting on a tee shirt. She couldn't help noticing the love bite that bloomed dark just above his collarbone. "Ah, I was just..."

"Miss Rey, we were just..." Amanda started.

"Don't bother, love. What do you want, Camille?" he asked, pulling the tee shirt over his head. "We were just heading for the showers, so make it quick."

"I wanted to talk to you, Rush."

"Well, talk," he said, picking up a small kit and towel from the foot of the rumpled bed. "We've not got a lot of time, and I want to get cleaned up before we go back."

"Alone," Camille told him looking at Doctor Perry. "It's a private matter."

Nick Rush considered quickly. He didn't want to have any secrets from Mandi, just as he hadn't from Gloria. On the other hand, he wasn't the same man he'd been when his wife died. He had done some thing that, while expedient, he wasn't necessarily proud of. And Camille knew, or had some ideas about, what a few of the skeletons in his closet were. Then there was the other issue. He still had magic, and Rumplestiltskin, Regina, pretty much the entire lot, had impressed upon him how emotion could effect that. Camille irritated him, but if she said something to Mandi...Well, it was probably only half as dangerous to talk to her alone.

"Nick?" Mandi asked.

"It's all right, love," he told her reassuringly. "Go on down. I'll be with you in a moment." Mandi nodded, took his things from him and gave him a kiss. With a final curious and not particularly friendly look at Camille, she left them alone. "Okay, now what is it you want?" he asked.

"I want you to find a way to get me home."

 

TJ came into observation to see that the Storybrooke contingent had acquired a small audience, or something. Of course, most of the crew was on shift, but Chloe Armstrong, Riley, who ran the communications room, currently out of service, Vanessa James, and one of the botanists, Katherine, were sitting with them. Actually, Belle appeared to be giving Katherine knitting lessons, while TJ was fairly sure that Rumplestiltskin was living up to the fairy tale, spinning on a drop spindle, something she had only ever seen in a book. His son was doing something else, with a similar spindle, while Emma was holding yarn on her arms as Jefferson wound it, all the while telling what seemed to be an outrageous and highly amusing story.

"So, there I was...."

"You can't expect me to believe that."

"True, every word of it, my lovely Vanessa. Ask Rumple, he was... Why Lieutenant Johansen," he said, looking up and smiling. "Come to join our little party? Forgive me for not rising." He indicated his hands.

"Looks like you are keeping yourselves busy," TJ said, finding an empty chair.

"Katherine wanted to brush up on her knitting," Belle explained. "And you are woefully..." She paused. "You are short of ways of replacing things. Besides, spinning keeps Rumple from being bored."

"Yes, the last thing you want is Rumple bored," Jefferson teased. "All kinds of things can happen."

"Watch it, Hatter," the man said, but there was no sting. He wasn't even looking at what he was doing, his fingers moving almost unconsciously.

"No straw to gold?" she asked.

"Could do, though you've no straw," Rumplestiltskin said, not the least offended. They had no wool either, but she didn't want to mention that, not when he was clearly busy making them something that might prove useful.

"Not that he couldn't spin just about anything into gold," Jefferson said as if picking up on her thoughts. "But what would you do with it? Hardly a market around here."

"Someone want to take over here? My arms are getting tired," Emma said.

"I will," Riley volunteered, much to James and TJ's surprise. "What? I used to do it for my mom when I was a kid."

"TJ, why don't you pull your chair over here. I can teach you to knit," Belle offered. Unsaid was the part about the new addition to the crew that she might want to knit for.

"Me too, if you have needles," Chloe said. "What about you, Vanessa?"

"No thanks. I tried once. Big mess. It would just be a waste of materials and a knot of epic proportions."

"You can help me take this off if you want," Bae told her. Emma shook her head. Only Belle could convince the old sorcerer to spin so the ship would have yarn and start an impromptu knitting class. Ever the princess of the old world, Belle had been amazed at the lack of what she considered basic skills, as had Rumplestiltskin, and he had not been quiet about it to them. And not but what Jefferson was right. Rumplestiltskin sucked at waiting around and spinning had always seemed to calm him. He had even offered to teach Henry. Her, Emma was wondering if there was some place she could go to punch something.

 

Rush looked at her and then broke into a laugh, and not a pleasant one.

"I am serious," she told him.

"Camille, you were there when I explained it. It doesn't work that way. I am sure that you could go ask Jefferson, or even Rumplestiltskin," he told her, using the imp's name deliberately to disconcert her even more. "But they will tell you the same. Exactly the number that came must go, no extra passengers. There is no way around it."

"Why not? Surely there is _something_ to make it work. Come on, Rush. You know, I could be more help to you back on Earth. There has to be something you can do. You know these people," Camille wheedled in her best political fashion.

"What exactly do you think _I_ can do?" he asked. Rush wasn't surprised she came to him. They had worked together before after all.

"How would I know?  You are the scientist. Look, Rush, I get it. You _want_ to be here, this is where your work is, and now, with Doctor Perry to help...well, you have everything you need. But I don't belong here, and I want you to get me home."

"Camille, believe me when I say, I would like nothing better than for you to go home," _along with half the other people here, starting with Young_ , he added to himself. "Unfortunately, there is nothing I _can_ do. Like it or not, this is magic, or at least their definition of it. I don't know how it works myself."

"You don't believe in magic any more than I do," Camille snorted, pacing away from him. "Come on, if anyone can figure it out, it's you."

"Flattery doesn't become you, Camille, and it doesn't matter what we call it. It won't change the fact that I still don't know how it works, and I'm not likely to learn before they leave."

"I am going to get out of here, and you are going to help me," Camille growled at him, turning from pleasant to nasty in a blink. "You owe me, Rush."

His eyes turned darker and he tried to hold onto his irritation, though at least this was the Camille Rey he was accustomed to dealing with. "And just how do you propose I do that? You think that one of _them_ is going to volunteer to stay, just so _you_ can go home?" Rush spat. "Who? The parents with a son at home waiting, the single father? Belle, who all this was in aid of? I know you don't want Rumplestiltskin. Believe me when I say that separated from Belle, you most certainly don't want to deal with him. I know that from my time in his head." He turned his back on her, his hands clenching and unclenching while he tried to keep her from getting to him. Owed her? Had he not backed her when she and the civilians tried to take the ship? Certainly without him they would not have got as far as they had. "I cannot help you, and more importantly, I won't. They belong here even less than you do. Now, I suggest you leave." His voice was a lot calmer than he felt.

"But if one of them stayed, you could study..."

"Leave."

"When you agree to help me.  When exactly did you develope scruples?  Remember, I know a lot of things you wouldn't necessary want Doctor Perry to know. Help me or by God I will...."

"Are you threatening me, Camille?" he asked, voice dipping lower.

"I'm not threatening, I'm making you a promise. If you..." And then his control snapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I hope it was worth the wait. To those who are fans of Rush's little mistake, it makes an appearance here, much to Regina's...something. Also for all of those who were wondering what would happen if someone pushed Rush too far...well... Please review and keep my muse happy.


	73. Camille

 

 

"Mr...er... Rumplestiltskin," Mandi called as she looked at the interesting group gathered on the Observation Deck, trying to remain calm, which wasn't as easy as it could be. Everyone was looking at her for a start, and suddenly she felt very self conscious, especially as she had only met some of them. Actually, Mandi knew the Storybrooke contingent better than most of the crew of _Destiny_ and that really wasn't saying much. Also, she wasn't accustomed to being the center of attention. When she was in the chair, people generally tried _not_ to look at her. _Fast and calm_ , she told herself. _There is nothing wrong, it's just a normal request._

"Yes, dearie?" the imp replied, not taking his eyes from his spindle.

"Nick asked if you could give him a minute. If you're not too busy," she asked as if it were not a big thing.

Belle, ever quick on the uptake, turned back to her knitting lesson, bringing the attention of her students back to what she was doing.

"Of course," the sorcerer said, rising from the chair. "I needed a bit of a stretch anyway. Probably wants to know what I've done with his razor. Not that I think he's ever used it." There was a bit of a laugh at that, but apparently no one was particularly bothered. It made sense that the two men probably had things to talk about. Only Rumplestiltskin, Belle, and Emma showed any sign that it was anything else. "Well, come along, dearie," he said almost kindly, and waved her before him.

"Think a walk sounds like a good idea. Think I'm going to have one myself. All this sitting around..." Emma said vaguely as she rose herself and followed only moments behind.

Mandi was glad to get out of there without a fuss. There had already been that. She'd finished her shower alone, much to her distress, and returned to his, well, their, she supposed, quarters to find out just what was holding him up. The physicist pressed the palm plate and the door opened.

"Shut the door, quickly," Nick shouted. "Don't want her getting out."

"What..." she said, obediently closing the door. Nick was peering carefully into the pile of yesterday's laundry, when his thermal shirt...wiggled.

"Mandi, I need you to go and get Gold, as quickly and quietly as you can," he said, trying not to take his eyes off the...thing.

"O-kay, what's the matter, and where...what _is_ that?" she shrieked, startled as something...furry?.. made a break for it, shooting out of Rush's shirt and running towards the opposite corner.

" _That_ is the problem," he told her. "I've had a little accident."

"An accident, what kind of accident...what exactly is that now?"

"A weasel?" he hazarded. "Some form of mustelid, or maybe a rodent? I'm no biologist."

"But where did it come from, how did it get here? And what does it have to do with Gold? Does this have anything to do with what that woman wanted to talk to you about?" Mandi was confused. She had no idea how an animal had gotten into their quarters, or even on the ship in the first place. Then there was how things got from a conversation with the HR director when she left, to chasing whatever it was now.

"Camille, indirectly. Which is why you need to get Rumplestiltskin. As I said, I've had a bit of an accident. I might have miscalculated. It appears that the magic is _not_ as gone as I'd hoped. That...well, that _is_ Camille Rey."

 

After getting over her shock, or at least enough to fake it in public (she thought she was handling the whole magic thing pretty well, but that was before her new lover accidentally...well), and securing his promise that they would talk about this later, Mandi had hurried off to get the sorcerer.

Meanwhile Rush tried tiredly to corral the frightened creature. Unlike last night, when he'd voluntarily given up the power to Rumplestiltskin, Rush felt like he'd run a marathon after being out all night on a lash. The good news, the strange tingling had gone. The bad news, his head felt like it had been wrung out and there was still so much work to do. This was bad, very bad. Not just that he'd turned Camille into whatever variety of mammal she was (at least she wasn't a snail?, he tried to tell himself, but then he realised that he would have less trouble catching a snail), but that he hadn't got rid of the magic, had very little in the way of control. Of course then there was the fact that the only person who could possibly help teach him how was about to disappear back to the far side of the universe. _What will this mean if I have to use the stones?_ he wondered. _Bloody Hell._

 

"What has happened?" Rumplestiltskin asked as the pleasant smile slid off his face, overtaken by serious concern. He'd tried to tell himself that these people were not his problem, but even he knew it wasn't true. He was the one who, admittedly inadvertently, had got them involved.

"I can't explain. Nick, he had a sort of...accident. A..." She paused to glance furitively around them. "A magical accident," she lowered her voice even further.

The sorcerer just nodded, but by unspoken agreement, they quickened the pace. He wasn't surprised, though for the other man's sake, he had hoped he was wrong, (not that he was ever wrong about these things, of course). They managed to get to Rush's quarters without running into anyone who wasn't busy with their own affairs, or who seemed interested in the two of them.

Mandi knocked on the door, much to the other man's surprise. "Who is it?" Rush called from within.

"What's going on?" Emma Sawn asked from behind them, having caught up.

"It's Mandi. I have Rumplestiltskin and Emma Swan," she called. Easier to explain once they were inside.

"Come, quickly," was the answer. Mandi hit the plate and they hurried in just in time to see the furry creature, that he seemed to have cornered the moment before, make a break for it.

"I don't think so," Rumplestiltskin said, immobilizing it with a flick of the wrist. "Now what, or should I say, _who_ do we have here?" the sorcerer asked, looking closely at the animal.

" ** _Who_**?" Emma questioned, her gaze narrowing toward Rush. "You...Gold, what have you done?" She turned on her father in law.

"I?" he asked innocently, or as innocently as he could manage. "I've been with you most of the day."

"Rush still has magic," Emma stated, as the realisation came to her. "Do I _want_ to know who? It isn't the Colonel is it? And what is it, anyway?"

"Not Young, and I don't bloody know," Rush growled. "Just change her back. It's Camille."

"No snails?" Emma asked Rumplestiltskin sarcastically.

The sorcerer just shrugged. "Each to their own," he said. Then he turned to the physicist, suddenly all business. "I need to know exactly what you did, and what were you thinking of, right before it happened."

Rush sighed. "Camille came here to talk to me, or so she said. What she wanted was to try to find a way to convince you to get her home," he told them. "I told her I couldn't, but she refused to believe it, tried to put some pressure on me to try to change my mind. She just wouldn't listen. Truth be told, she was getting right on my tits. Then she..." He paused. Not that Nick cared about what they thought about Camille, but for her to threaten him meant she had something on him. "She thought she could appeal to me scientific curiosity at first, and when that didn't work..." He shrugged.

Rumplestiltskin could see there was more to it that that. Rush was prickly, irascible, and sarcastic. He was also more than willing to get into a fight if he felt the need. He was used to people hating him and didn't much seem to care.  Temper, yes, thin skinned, hardly. _Probably blackmail,_ he thought, but it was not important. "What were you thinking?" the sorcerer asked. "As precisely as possible."

"Thought she was being a bloody nuisance, sneaking around like a weasel, selfish bitch. Then she threatened me and, well you see." He nodded towards the creature.

"Not bad," Rumplestiltskin said, rather like a teacher, one whose not particularly bright student had just pulled off a feat.

"Gold..." Emma warned.

"Weasel it is, then," he told them. "You have drained yourself pretty thoroughly. This is probably about the extent of what you are capable of."

"I don't want to be capable of _any_ of it," the man said, but in the back of his mind, he wasn't so very sure. He _was_ curious, after all there had to be some scientific basis to it, it just had to be. Rumplestiltskin ignored him, as he examined Camille the weasel, carefully.

"Can you fix her?" Mandi asked.

"In the normal course of things, no. But..." he said before anyone could panic. "But, for some reason, Rush and I have more or less compatible magics, rather like the same magical signature, unlike, say, fairy magic." The imp glared at Rush, daring him to say anything about his theories. It wasn't as if Emma was interested in more than the minimal magical training, so he didn't need to get any more detailed or worry too much about his words. "The question is, when. She has, of course, already drunk the memory potion, along with the rest of the ship. If I turn her back now, she is going to be angry, not to mention dangerous to us. Might I suggest we wait until..."

There was a change they could all feel, the timbre of the ship vibrating just a little differently as it slipped back into normal space.

"Doctor Rush to the Gate Room," the radio spit from the other side of the room. The physicist fumbled to find it where it had fallen under the night table/shelf.

"Acknowledged. Does someone have eyes on the countdown clock?"

"I do," Eli answered. "Looks like a whole six hours, and three planets, one of them locked out."

"We are running out of time," Rush said to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, all, we are winding toward the end of this story. Yes, I will tie up the loose ends, and no, I can't leave Camille a weasel. There may be another part to this, I am unsure at this point, but I rather have an idea based on what is happening with Telford and the 'Incursion' story arc. So, please read, review, and all those lovely things. Tell me what you think, what you would like to see...Yes, I will take prompts in this universe.


	74. Last minute preparations

 

 

When the ship shifted to normal space, Belle looked up at her stepson, and then to Jefferson, who had finished off his yarn. The hatter rose and stretched. "Think I will take a walk," he said, ever quick on the uptake. "I need to take my hat back anyway.' Waving his goodbyes, the man left them.

"Team Two, report to the Gate room," The paannounced.

"That's me, I'm afraid," TJ told her. "But I'll be back." Belle smiled, but didn't say anything. There was nothing she _could_ say. In all likelihood, by the time Tamara got back, they would be gone, or almost, and then she would have no memory of them at all.

"Me too," Riley told them. "Wonder what this one's like. Hopefully they have food. I'll try to bring you back an alien pear."

 

"Six hours, Christ," Rush swore, running a hand through his long hair. "And I have got to get to the Gate room. What the hell am I going to do?"

"At the moment, you aren't a danger to anyone or anything," Rumplestiltskin said.

"Yes, but that's not likely to stay true, is it?" the scientist demanded. "And you aren't going to be 'round to fix whatever happens. That woman, the Blue Fairy, she mentioned something about a cuff, would that..."

"No," Rumplestiltskin said flatly.

"What, why not?"

"Nick," Mandi warned. Not that she wanted to get into the middle of this.

"Yeah Gold, I'm kind of curious myself. I mean, I know why _you_ hate it," Emma said. She'd gotten the explanation and if she never had to think about that again, she would be perfectly happy. "But he's..."

"The cuff is meant as containment, short term. It wasn't meant for what you are suggesting," Rumplestiltskin told them. "Long term, no. But..." He paused, clearly having thought of something.

"Doctor Rush, please report to the Gate room," the radio spit again.

"I need..." Rush started.

"What you need to do is go down there and find a reason why they shouldn't send anyone to the planet. Everyone needs to be aboard Destiny when I trigger the memory potion. I assure you that we will be going home before this ship goes on."

"You can't leave me like this," Rush growled. "It's all your fault. I'll not..."

Rumplestiltskin held up a hand. "I might have an idea. You just go, before someone comes looking. Make sure that if you can't keep them from sending down a team, that you make damn certain they are back in plenty of time. If we have to leave, and they are down there..." The warning was clear.

Rush nodded and with Mandi by his side, hurried from the room. Right now the last thing they needed was someone to come looking for them, especially not with the random weasel, and Rumplestiltskin preparing to do whatever it was he was planning.

"What are you thinking?" Emma demanded suspiciously.

"I am thinking that what he needs is a way to suppress his powers when he needs to. I can't take away his ability to use magic, but perhaps I can make it possible to contain it, at least until he has control, not to mention when he is not in his own body. That could be...awkward."

"Yeah, no kidding. Why..." Emma started to ask. Then she topped. Heart to hearts with her father in law were generally something they both avoided. Their relationship was in a good place. They snipped and snapped at one another, argued and even occasionally fought. It was familiar, and comfortable. That she was starting to develop a genuine affection for the man was something she would never admit. At least in that way they were both alike, uncomfortable with emotional expression. They knew, it was enough. But she hadn't been counting on his perception.

"Why wasn't it this way for you?" he asked.

Emma nodded. She had accepted that she had magic, and that it occasionally came in handy. But she had never gone beyond the basics, never wanted to.

"You always had it, even before magic came back to this realm. You were born with magic, in our world. But like all magic here, it was limited. It was why your kiss brought back Graham's memory. Little things. If you had been raised in the Enchanted Forest, you would have got training and it would have been just another part of your life. Also, like Rush, you have used it without conscious thought. But unlike him, at some level, you know it is always a possibility.  He's not accustomed to the idea, thus..." he pointed to Camille.  "Rush had the capacity, but it was latent, completely dormant. If I had not had my accident, it may never have become active. He could have lived his entire life thinking that magic was the provence of fairy stories."

"So you were what, like a catalyst?" Emma asked.

"Perhaps. It is all theory, of course. But right now, what I need is for you to go and find Jefferson. I might need his help. Belle and Bae should also make their ways back here without arousing suspicion. We will need to be ready."

"What about her?" Emma asked, pointing to the immbolized mammal. The sheriff had neither particularly liked, nor particularly trusted the woman in her human form, but leaving her was probably an issue.

"Oh, I think she is better off this way for the moment. She's most certainly less trouble."

"Couldn't happen to a nicer person," Emma commented offhandedly as she headed for the door.

 

David Telford woke in a different hospital. At least this time it was a military hospital. The doctor in Boston had been reluctant to transfer him, but there were not a lot of things that Jack O'Neill couldn't get done if he needed them done. The Air Force medic that came with the transport had sedated him, not just to keep the cover story in place, but, he'd told David, because of his burns and other injuries, it was the only way to transport him that wouldn't be excruciating.

 _Not but what I deserve it,_ he thought. Safely in a private ICU bay in the base hospital, now he was waiting for the next part. Debrief, psych eval, not to mention probably several dozen interrogation sessions designed to squeeze every last bit of information about this particular faction of the Lucian Alliance out of his brain like a sponge as soon as O'Neill found people he was sure he could trust.

Even now, Telford was certain that there was a very quiet shake up going on. They would go through the SGC, IGA, HWS, not to mention military, civilian contractors, probably down to the last tourist and school child to set foot in the Pentagon. Oh, they probably wouldn't expose them, but now that O'Neill knew they were there, the game would begin.

The general hated espionage, and spycraft almost as much as he hated bureaucrats, and he was going to be very unhappy. That was something that, when all the moles were smoked from their holes, he would have no qualms about taking out on them. _With luck, by then_ , Telford thought, _I'll be dead_. The logical part of his mind understood that there was nothing he could do, that it wasn't his fault. It didn't help, not at all.

He heard the whoosh as the door slid back and closed his eyes. He was getting very good at playing dead.

 

"Rush, why aren't you suited up to go down to the planet?" Colonel Young asked as he came into the Gate room.

"Probably because I'm not going down?" he responded. "Eli, pan the kino right. A little further. There, it looks like there should be water down there."

"And why not? It's your rotation. Actually, you missed your last rotation being...away."

"I did, yes. But right now, I am still busy between repairs, trying to find a way to make my little workaround for the countdown actually work properly, and get some control over the clock permanently."

"What do you mean? You managed to make it work before."

"I managed to trick the clock, not control it. You wouldn't want to accidentally have that happen, the timer decide it was done, would you? Not with people down on the planet, or worse, in transit."

"Could that even happen?" Eli asked, not looking up from where he was driving the kino. "I mean, we managed to hold it that one time, when you made me stick my arm in." The boy shivered. It wasn't one of his favourite memories.

"You were holding it open and it took a few seconds to reset once the rest of you was inside. But if there was nothing, the signal just cut off..." Eli clearly followed at least his meaning. It might not be possible, but it was definitely not a theory they wanted to test, or take chances with. The possibilities were too...gross. "Besides, colonel, there is nothing requiring me down there. The scans are showing water, and vegetation, some of which might be edible. A botanist would be of some use, more than I would, especially with everything else I need to do. Now, since the scans are completed, I'd best get back to the important things."

Young was still looking suspiciously at the scientist. He was generally at least slightly interested in the planets they found. It could be as he said, but at this moment, he was even less inclined to trust the man. "And Doctor Perry?" he asked. Not that he was any more sure about her. But actually it was the first time he'd seen Rush without her since they arrived yesterday, and that alone made him a little uneasy.

"Control interface room, she's going over the engines' energy output reports. We are not recharging to full capacity, not even near. She's looking for the fault." Having nothing else to ask, Young turned to leave. It wouldn't hurt to check up on her, not to mention their other guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all. You know what to do. Please review, it helps.


	75. Problem Solving

 

Young entered the Observation deck to check the last place he knew Belle and the rest of the family of people, weirdos or whatever they were, had been. Near the window, Belle was folding away the last of her mending, while one of the civilians was starting to put away yarn in bags.

"Now, you just keep that up. You'll be turning out socks in no time. It's a pity Rumple couldn't teach one of you to spin," she was saying.

"It's not as easy as it looks," Bae put in. "Papa was and still is the best. I never really got the hang of it. I'm good at plying and I can card with the best of them, but I'm only so good at the spinning."

"What have you been up to?" Young said, trying for friendly.

"Just finished the last of the mending," Belle told him. "I also gave some knitting and darning lessons. Hopefully it will help at least some. Clearly what you have won't last forever."

"Or you could just tell us how you got here, and help us get home," he said.

'Were you not listening, Colonel? I am certain you aren't hearing impaired. Rumple told you at least twice and I am sure that Rush has done as well. There is nothing we can do. I definitely cannot explain it any better."

"My mum has nothing to tell you," Bae came to his feet aggressively. He was not going to let the military officer talk to her that way. Besides, it was far better and safer for him to deal with it than what his father would do if he felt Belle was being inconvenienced or kept from preparing for their departure.

"Then what can you tell me?"

"Neither of us can tell you anything," Bae growled. "Neither of us can do any of it, in case you've forgotten. I have all the magical potential of this floor and Belle is the same. Jefferson is the expert on this kind of thing."

"And where can I find him, then?"

Bae shrugged. "Think he went to put his hat up, maybe find the bathroom."

"And where is your father and your wife?" Young asked. It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that with the stepson present, he wasn't going to get a chance to talk to Belle alone and even if he could, he wasn't sure he could get anything out of her. Interesting the way he defended her, actually the way he treated her period. The entire group was crazy, of that he was certain.

"Pop went to see Rush about something, the man needed him. Emma went for a walk. She's never bene good at sitting still. She can't even manage to take a day off without checking in."

Young turned on his heel and left. He'd not gotten answers from them, maybe he could get them from someone else. As long as it wasn't the man they called Rumplestiltskin. It couldn't be magic, but there was definitely something different about him, and he didn't trust it. Instead, he headed towards their quarters, hoping he could maybe get some answers from the daughter in law. She seemed normal enough.

 

Amanda Perry was sitting in Rush's chair, her computer set next to his while she looked back and forth between them. "Ummmm, Doctor Perry?" Volker addressed her. He wasn't certain what to make of the woman. She was definitely close to Rush, which was enough to make her suspect in his books. Still, she was by all accounts a brilliant scientist, not but what Volker thought that word was overused. Still, regardless of their relationship, he was pretty sure Rush wouldn't want her using his computer.

"Yes? And please, call me Mandi. You're Volker? I'm afraid we didn't get much of an introduction yesterday with everything that was happening."

"Yes, Dale Volker. I...I was just going to warn you that Rush doesn't like people messing with his workstation." Park walked in, nodding to both of them absently while she went over to her own station. She had already been introduced to the other woman.

Mandi laughed in response. It wasn't what he was expecting. Yesterday they had been working side by side, close enough to make everyone wonder about their relationship, but that was a long way from sharing a workstation. Besides, he had managed to convince himself that Park was imagining things. If he had to guess, Volker would have thought Rush was more likely to share his toothbrush than his research. "Thank you for your concern, but Nick knows what I'm doing. Nice to meet you though," she told him as she went back to what she was doing.

"Nick," Park mouthed at him significantly, before turning back to what she was doing with a smile. She had no doubts about what the relationship was. Besides, what it was't, wasanyone else's business.

"There," Mandi said out loud. "Now that I have gotten that running, Eli, can you show me how those kino things work? I might want to have a look at the engines from the outside, and I gather they work in vacuum?"

Eli, who had most definitely not mentioned his own discoveries about the two of them to anyone (in fact, he was trying to forget what he'd seen), blushed and stuttered just a bit. "Sure, come here and I'll show you. See this." He pointed to an image. "This is the kino stationed in the corridor where you and Rush...er...We parked it there while Rush was back, while Gold, you know." he ended lamely.

"Yes. So you've been spying on Gold and Belle?"

"No, not really. Kind of. Colonel Young wanted to make sure everything was okay. Anyway, it's how I got the footage of Gold punching out Telford when he was here."

"Oh, I need to see that," Mandi said.

"You've met Telford," Eli said with certainty. Only someone who had met him could know what he was like.

"Oh yes, he asked me some questions about the engine specs..." Mandi told him distractedly. Eli was no longer looking at the monitor, but Mandi knew what she was going to need to do. As much as the footage of Rush, well Gold, punching out Telford would be funny, it was all going to have to go. On the screen she was watching as Jefferson knocked first on Gold and Belle's door and then on the one she was sharing with the scientist, all the while half listening to Eli go on about his kino footage collection. The door opened and Jefferson went inside.

"Eli, how are you doing on those figures?" Rush interrupted them as he hurried in and dropped into his seat. "What's..." he started to ask.

"It's that power flow..."

"Oh yeah. You've read over the numbers and got the program running then? Should have some numbers soon then. Just too much redundancy for us to be losing power that way, how..." He gestured, and in seconds the two of them were back, heads together over both computers, and two notepads, talking quickly and quietly to one another, examining something on the screen.

Park looked at Volker with a knowing smile. Dale groaned internally. Yep, Park was right, and once again a beautiful woman was onboard Destiny and she already had a boyfriend. After all, even he couldn't fail to notice the way one of Rush's hands had drifted to rest on her hip as they huddled close together.

 

"Rumple, are we...oh, who happened to..actually, _who_ is that?" Jefferson asked the moment he was admitted to Rush's quarters. Never could it be said that the Hatter wasn't quick on the uptake.

"Rush is still capable, and that HR woman," he explained shortly. "Right now, I am running short of time and I need a solution for his magic problem." The two of them had known each other for too long to need more than the minimum of explanations.

Jefferson nodded once. "Like the cuff, but something that he could remove himself, something for the long term?" he questioned.

Emma was just standing there, having no real contribution. In fact she was starting to get restless and wondering if she was really any use here, and wouldn't be better off going to find the other two.

"It needs to be something that someone else, like Doctor Perry, for example, could remove," the sorcerer corrected. "Can't have someone who is temporarily in his body taking it off when they use those blasted stones. Sheriff, I don't think you can be of any help. Why don't you go and find..." As if he had read her mind.

"Good idea," she said before he could finish. She was already antsy, and knew very well that it wasn't going to help anyone, especially if she did a Rush.

"Keep an eye on the time," he reminded her as she left. "Now, do you think you could..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thank you for reading this story and being patient with me. If you are reading any of my others, please be patient. I am doing NaNoWriMo this year, and I want to finish this first, so it is going to be my priority. Please, read, review and all those sorts of things.


	76. Countdown

 

 

Emma left Rush's quarters in a hurry. She didn't know if Jefferson actually understood what her father in law was talking about, or listening as Rumplestiltskin thought out loud, nodding in all the right places, and providing a sounding board for ideas. Honestly, they had passed her limited knowledge before she left. Unfortunately, she came into the corridor and, just past the door, ran into the last person she wanted to run into.

"Ms. Swan," Colonel Young greeted her with what he probably thought was a friendly smile. Emma smiled back, well, almost smiled, it was really more of a grinding of teeth. "I was just coming to look for you."

"Well, you've found me," she responded. "What do you want? I'm just going to..."

"I was hoping we could have a little talk, privately. Where are the other two, Mr. Jefferson and...er...Gold?"

Emma tried not to smile. She knew how hard it was to accept. Hell, she had trouble saying it most days. But anything that wrong footed Young was a good plan in her book. In the darkest part of her heart, she kind of wished Regina had come with them. Between the two of them, she and the old sorcerer would have had Young so confused and befuddled that he would probably be sitting rocking in the corner. But ignoring these pleasant images, she had to say something. It wasn't like she could tell the truth, that the imp and the portal hopper were holed up in Rush's quarters trying to create a magic fix for the scientist so he didn't turn anyone into anything again. _Nothing suspicious about that, not at all,_ Emma thought. _Even ignoring the uninvited weasel, this is so not the time to interrupt them, not if we don't want a snail to go with the weasel. What would Regina do?_ "Do I look like Rumplestiltskin's keeper?" she asked. She could almost hear the Evil Queen in her voice. _Too much time with Henry's other mother._ "And for the record, it's just Jefferson. The Enchanted Forest didn't run to last names, and despite being issued one, it came from Regina, and he's not a fan."

Young just started at her. The use of Gold's real name, combined with a mention of the old world, had thrown him. for a loop, which of course had been her plan. "What..." he paused. "Sheriff, I had you pegged as the most reasonable member of this group. You are a law enforcement officer. You can't tell me that you believe all of this stuff. Magic?"

"Yes, I'm a law enforcement officer. That doesn't mean I am not also the daughter of Snow White and Charming. I was born in the other world, and I've been back there once by accident. I took over my job when the Queen's Huntsman, his name was Graham, died because she crushed the heart that she had ripped out of his chest, and my one and only deputy is Sir Galahad, literally, and I don't mean he has a complex. I may not have always accepted it, I was raised in this world, which is an even longer story. There were definitely days when I didn't believe, and there are still days that it makes me nuts. It doesn't mean that I have a lot of choice. I have magic too. So if you..."

"Colonel Young, can I see you in the console room?" Rush's voice came from the radio on his hip.

"On my way," the colonel said. "We can pick this up later."

"Yeah, whatever," Emma said with a general wave. Turning, she looked around and spotted the flying ball near the ceiling. It shouldn't have surprised her that someone was watching. It didn't take a genius to realise who was on the other side at the moment though. She gave it a thumbs up before heading back towards Observation.

 

In the control room, Rush turned to where he was putting the last touches on his distraction. Now all he had to do was hope, despite his usual pessimism, that Rumplestiltskin had found or figured out something to solve his problem. Mandi was monitoring the kino in their corridor to prevent problems like Young, while she carefully and quietly erased all the data from that particular kino from the system.

Rush had sent Eli off with very specific directions on what they needed the kino to look at and for among the engine modules, making certain that it was detailed enough for him to have to direct manually. "Two of you would be better and faster, but as Riley is the only other one you've taught to drive as well, and he's on the team that went through the gate, we've no other option. I'd like us to have a complete picture of what it looks like. Then we can plan the necessary repairs for the next time we come out of FTL with a decent amount of time on the clock."

Eli had caught on immediately and hurried off on the task. Anything that made the engines more efficient meant better power usage and that was good for everyone, not to mention getting them the hell out of town faster if the aliens caught them again. Rush had sent Park off with him, a second set of eyes that knew enough to know the sort of information they needed, and when to zoom in. That left only Volker in the room, and he was getting ready to go off shift. Brody was in the small storage room he had turned into a makeshift workshop, rebuilding some of the power relays. The engineer would probably have been a better choice, but more important was putting together replacement relays for the ones that had burnt out.

Soon, he and Mandi would have the room to themselves to take care of some of the other details. The sorcerer had been very specific about how much time they would have once the potion was triggered, everything needed to be in place, to go off at the push of a button. He couldn't keep from worrying about what would happen once they had gone, but there was nothing that could be done about that, so he stuck to what he could do.

As if on cue, Young came into the room. "All right, Rush, what do you want that you had to get me down here, rather than just tell me over the radio?"

"I've been looking at how I managed to override the countdown clock...." Rush almost smiled. Mandi did, before hiding her face behind the computer screen. Young was not General O'Neill, who was infamous for interrupting technical explanations with a simple, 'will it work? Good, do it'. The colonel genuinely tried to understand, or at least he listened and pretended up to a point. That was what they were counting on right now, to keep him out of everyone's way for a while.

 

"Ready?" Emma asked as she entered Observation.

"Yes," Belle replied, and Emma knew she meant more than ready to leave observation. She was absolutely sure that the woman wanted to be back home. She had sent Katherine off with a polite request to return everything. Their time was coming to an end and they all knew it.

"They ready?  Wha't up?" Bae asked as they left the room, making sure there were no signs that they had ever been there. That was what they needed to be doing now, erasing themselves from the ship as surely as Rush said he could erase them from the cameras.

"I'll explain when we get back. But put it this way, things are a little more interesting than I would like."

The three of them returned to the corridor where their 'quarters' had been, making sure the room they had spent the night in was sanitized, while Belle did the same for her's more or less. Since Mandi had decided that it was to appear that their relationship was still developing, or at least being kept quiet, which was in keeping with Rush's notoriously private persona, Mandi would be taking over the room as her 'official' quarters. Subtle, that was the right way. Emma and Bae finished their room, not that they expected anyone to be checking.  The ship had plenty of spare rooms, and few people wanted to live near the irascible scientist. Finishing up, they knocked on Rush's door, and went inside.

The first thing Belle caught sight of was the immobilized mammal. "Oh, Rumple," she said, her tone both exasperated and disapproving.

"Not his work," Jefferson said, from where he appeared to be acting as a kind of assistant, standing behind where Rumplestiltskin was sitting at the table doing whatever it was he was doing. The sorcerer was leaning close to the table working on something, his nose so close to the surface it practically touched. It was a measure of how focused he was that he didn't even look up at the sound of his wife's voice, which could usually wake him from a dead sleep.

"That's what's up,' Emma explained. "Rush still has magic. He had the accident."

"And now Rumple is trying to fix up something to keep it happening again _by accident,_ " Jefferson explained.

"Hand," Rumplestiltskin ordered, not looking up. Apparently Jefferson understood, however, because he reached out to hold something while the imp muttered a few choice imprecations about having to work without necessary tools and ingredients.

"Soon," the Hatter told the others, before turning back to what he was doing.

 

Amanda Perry knocked on the door in front of her. Eli was still supposed to be down near one of the airlocks where he had released the kino, ready to retrieve it before the ship went back into FTL, assuming he didn't finish his survey first. But it didn't hurt to be cautious.

When no one answered, she let herself in. Eli's quarters were....well, actually they weren't like the others she had seen. Instead of one of the crew compartments, he had made a room for himself out of what they had decided was the kino control room, or at least one of them, though if there were more, they were in unexplored parts of the ship.

The room looked pretty much like what it was, a cross between a college dorm rom and a high tech video editing station. Mandi went straight to the console and set to work before she thought too much about it. She didn't like the idea that she was violating the young man's privacy, intruding as she was in his personal domain, but she needed to do some very quick and very quiet work on the kino footage. There could be no trace that Belle had ever been there, or that Mandi had not.

Rush was already rewriting the computer records to reflect the new narrative, ready to hit run the moment that they heard from Rumplestiltskin.

 

"That's got you, ye' little bastard," Rumplestiltskin cried as he did...something. "Can someone find me something, like a hairbrush? I need a hair, one from Rush and another from Doctor Perry.  Just have to personalize this, you might say."

Belle went straight to where Mandi's pack was, her ditty bag still on top from where Belle had shown them to the showers. She'd seen the other woman's hairbrush at the time. Bae went to where Rush's razor and other personal grooming things were scattered about, tossed carelessly on the surface. It looked like someone had tried to bring order, probably his father, but the other man had clearly not been interested in keeping it that way. He found it, and they both returned to Rumple. The sorcerer removed a hair from each, adding them to a couple of cups that seemed to have come from the mess. There was a small, familiar *poof* of purple smoke from each as the hairs went in. "Now all we need is the principals. It's time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, ladies and gentle creatures. As you can tell, this is almost done. I expect one more post and an epilogue (maybe two). It's been a long and strange journey, and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. Please leave me a note telling me what you think.


	77. Homeward Bound

 

 

"As soon as we get Rush sorted, it will be time. Jefferson, where do you wan to do this?" Rumplestiltskin asked.

"Not here, it's fine for a landing, but opening a portal is likely to bring half the furnishings with us. I need an open space."

"Not the mess, then, same problem, not to mention people," Bae said. "Though they probably wouldn't object if we took the food."

"What about Observation?" Belle suggested. "Open floor space, and a good bit of the furniture is attached to the floor."

"Good," Jefferson said, after thinking about it for a moment.

"And here we dragged ourselves back," Emma groused just a little.

"Very well. Observation it is. We need Rush and his lady, I have to get this taken care of, and then there is that," the sorcerer said. "I suppose we should just take her with us. I want to wait to reverse the spell until the last possible moment. She will be less difficult that way. I can reverse it, then trigger the memory potion to take effect. The question is, how do we find Rush?"

"I got that one," Emma said. "There is a flying camera outside the door, sort of a floating ball..."

"Kino," Belle and Rumplestiltskin both supplied.

"At the very least, it records speech, presumably, they can listen if they want to," Belle said. "As long as someone is monitoring it."

"I'm pretty sure someone is," Emma told them. "Young wanted to have a little talk with me earlier. He was just getting annoying when Rush called him away. Could have been coincidence, but..."

"I'd expect nothing less, he knows the importance of what we are doing and our time limits. Let's gather our things, then. Bae, can you carry the weasel?" his father asked.

"Sure Papa," he said, only rolling his eyes a little. "But who is it? I'd kind of thought Young was the best candidate."

"No, not him, though it might well be if Rush loses control again. No, it's Camille Rey."

"The nosey one?" Bae asked. "They'd probably be happier if we left her that way. I know, I know, suspicious. She just rubbed me the wrong way," he said before either Emma or Belle could say anything.

"Time to go," Jefferson said, getting his hat. Rumplestiltskin gathered the bracelet and one of the cups, directing Belle to the other. Bae gingerly picked up the unconscious mustelid, and Emma took a quick look around to make sure they had everything before following them out.

Rumplestiltskin looked up to find the kino where it hung in the air near the ceiling. "Rush?" he questioned.

"Yes," came the scientist''s voice incongruously from it.

"It's done. Observation." No acknowledgment was needed. The four of them started down the corridor, the sorcerer in the lead with his wife, his stick in one had, the cup and a man's gold bracelet hanging from the other. Behind him was Jefferson, his battered top hat resting jauntily on his head, and a pleasant grin on his face. Bae and Emma brought up the rear. In an effort to be less conspicuous, Bae had stuffed the limp weasel into his jacket. It made an odd bulge, but hopefully no one was going to look that closely.

 

In the control room, Rush tapped a couple of keys. Instantly an alarm went off. He counted in his head. 3, 2, 1. Then he picked up his radio. "Colonel Young, long range sensors have picked up something on the edge o the system. We can't identify it yet, but I would suggest that anyone still on the planet evacuate immediately. We still have forty-five minutes on the countdown, but..."

"But better to have everyone back on board in case of an attack," Young finished for him. "Gateroom, this is Young, send the evac signal. Tell everyone to get their gear and get back on the ship, now."

"Yes, Sir," a voice answered.

Mandi came into the console room just in time to hear the end of it. "It's time, then?" she asked quietly. Despite the fact that there was no one in the room.

"Yes, meeting them in Observation. Ready to say goodbye?"

"I am, yes. Time to break the ties and move on. Since this started, it's felt like I was kind of waiting, like it wasn't finished. Now..."

"Yeah," Rush picked up the radio again. "Eli, call the kino in. Time's up."

"You got it. I think we are almost done here, anyway, or will be in, say five minutes?"

"Make it two. Rush out." He set the radio down on his workstation. "Let's go see them off then," he said and the two of them left the console room.

 

They arrived in Observation to find that Rumplestiltskin and his party were already there. Bae and Emma were moving some of the chairs away from where Jefferson stood, giving directions in the middle of the floor. "Just those last two, I think," he said, eyeballing the arrangement. "That table, is it..."

"Attached," Bae said.

The sorcerer and his wife were standing to the side, watching, while Camille the weasel seemed to have been abandoned on one of the tables, like a not particularly pleasant looking old fashioned stole. It reminded him of one worn by his aunts' neighbour to church when Rush had been young, with the head and feet still attached, giving the impression that the animal had crawled around the woman's neck and died there without her notice. He'd always half expected it to come to life and bit her, actually, but he hadn't liked the woman either.

"Good. Rush, come here. We don't have a lot of time, Doctor Perry, you as well." The two scientists, made there way to join Rumplestiltskin and Belle. He was holding up a man's bracelet that seemed to be made of a single rope of gold, not huge, but big enough that it was clearly a man's.

"What's that?" Rush asked. He wasn't a man who wore jewelry, apart from his wedding ring, and he had taken that off when he got back to their quarters last night. It had been past time.

"Generally, a bracelet, formed out of my own spun gold, but specifically, it is what you need, at least in theory. It's a bit like the cuff we were talking about, similar magic actually. But with a couple of rather important differences. The first is that it is meant to merely separate you from your magic, not cut you off completely. It can be worn for several days without ill effect. Without it, you will still be capable of magic, and I would suggest keeping in on anytime you are away from your quarters, at least until you have more control."

"You can't just block it up or take it away forever?" Rush asked. He was deeply conflicted. On the one hand, he didn't want to be a danger to others, even the ones that annoyed him like Camille or the colonel. On the other hand, he was a scientist and despite Rumplestiltskin's pronouncements, he was certain that there was a science to it, and he wanted to understand, the same way he wanted to understand Destiny.

"I've told you already, no. Now, since the largest concern, after you have some control, is those times when you aren't yourself. Can't have Telford or someone else accidentally stumbling onto your secret. So, I'm setting the spell so that it can be removed, but not by you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I assume you mean Mandi. So if, say, Doctor Cavanagh is in my body, he'll not be able to remove it."

"Exactly, as long as you are amenable, Doctor Perry?"

"Uh, yes of course, and it's Mandi. If anyone has the right to call me by my first name..."

"Very well. But now, let us get on with this. If you will give me your arm, Rush, we will get started."

 

"Where is Rush?" Colonel Young asked as he came into the console room.

"I don't know. I just got back myself," Eli said. "I'm just starting to download all the footage from the engines."

"What about Doctor Perry then? She's almost always with him."

"Not here either. that's kind of weird actually, now that you mention it, but..."

"But Rush said there was something on the long range sensors. Since when does he leave before we know what the threat is?"

"Since when does he leave at all," Eli said. "Though he has been doing less of that, now with Doctor Perry here. Anyway, it looks like whatever it is, it's at the edge of the system. It's on the far side of the star at the moment, so too much interference to tell anything. Where are you going, Colonel?"

"To find Rush, not to mention Gold and the rest. I've got a feeling that they are up to something."

 

"There," Rumplestiltskin said, admiring his work. "Now, time to test it. Doctor Perry, if you would remove it?"

"Ahh, all right," Amanda said carefully. "Umm, where is the clasp?" she asked.

"There isn't one. Just lift it away from his skin, if it worked..." The scientist reached out cautiously, and lifted the chain, which came away in her hand. She started at it in surprise. "I..."

"Very good, now put it back on him, just wind it around. It has to be more than a simple touch. Wouldn't do for it to happen accidentally." Everyone was watching now as she looped the bracelet around Rush's wrist and closed into a complete loop. "See, Rush, try to remove it." The man took hold with his other hand and pulled. Nothing happened. "Excellent, now, one more test. Belle, take a turn." The imp's wife reached out and gave it a tug, once, twice, again nothing happened.

"Excellent, question?"

"So no one but Mandi can remove it? Nothing else? I mean, I can't rip it of catching it or something?"

"Not unless you get your entire arm removed. I'd avoid that, were I you. Not only is it painful, but reattaching it is a rather complex and unpleasant piece of magic." Something in the old sorcerer's tone told him that came from first hand experience and Rush shuddered, absolutely certain he didn't want to know.

"All right, then. I suppose it's time," the scientist said a little awkwardly.

"Yes, just a few things. You know what to do?"

"Two days. The relay will be repaired by then, or rather, an undamaged one will be discovered."

"Good. All ready then. Belle, my love, time to say goodbye," Rumple told her. "I'll just..." he wasn't' terribly good at the emotional things any more than Rush was. The two men shook hands rather stiffly, while Belle hugged both of them, and Mandi hugged everyone.

 

Young had looked in the mess, and checked the temporary quarters the group had occupied. The quarters were empty, in fact they looked as if they had never been occupied in the first place. Something was up, he knew it. He even peered into Rush's quarters, but no one was there. The question was, what were they doing, and where were they doing it? The only place he could think of was Observation. Part of him was tempted to call a security team, but then, if they were still giving knitting lessons or something, he knew he'd look like an idiot. He could always call them if he needed back up.

Instead, he marched up to Observation and hit the palm plate. The door slide open and for just a moment, he felt the satisfaction of knowing he was correct. Then his brain registered what his eyes were seeing and all thought stuttered to a halt like a train that had the emergency brake pulled.

Rush heard the door slide open, and had just enough time to register Young's presence, but there was nothing he could do. Actually, part of him rather enjoyed the stunned look on the colonel's face as before him, the weasel was turning back into Camille Rey. The HR director, one back in her human form, looked around in terror as Rumplestiltskin turned to the commanding officer.

"Come to see us off then, Dearie?" Well, do come inside and close the door. I insist." The last was a low voiced command, and Young, career military man that he was, obeyed without thought. The door slid shut behind him as he started at the scene before him.

"What...you...how?" Young started, trying to make sense of what he had seen. Unable to resolve the conflict, he fumbled for his radio, but Bae was there before him, grabbing the instrument from his nerveless fingers.

"I'm sorry, Colonel, but we can't have any more interruptions. You see, we are in a hurry. Don't worry, in a few moments, we will be gone, and you'll not remember any of this...Jefferson?"

"Ms, Rey, Colonel...it's not been particularly fun. Rumple, make sure..." But he needed say nothing. The two unwanted guests found themselves forced into a pair of chairs, as Doctors Rush and Perry, stepped out of the way. Then, much to the shock of the intruders, Jefferson set his hat down on the floor and gave it a spin.

It should have been nothing. It looked like a child's game. Instead though, the hat kept spinning, and seemed to open and keep opening as a swirling vortex consumed the deck.

"Magic..." Young said, unable to really understand what he was seeing. The entire group was clasping hands with one another.

"Ten minutes, Rush," Rumplestiltskin reminded him as Jefferson began to count down.

"10, 9, 8, 7."

"Starting...now." With a small guesture of his free hand, there was a tingle in the air, and Camille and Young slumped in their chairs.

"3, 2, 1, Jump!"

 

As the portal dropped them out and the ground came to meet them, Rumplestitlskin registered only two things, the feel of his wife's hand in his, and the sound of a familiar voice calling.

"Granddad, Miss Mary, they're back!" Henry Mills shouted and began running. Rumplestiltskin smiled as he watched his grandson coming through the garden, David a bit behind him. Or he was smiling, until he saw something....

"What, by all the Gods of magic, is that?" He pointed towards the multilegged purple...thing that was following the boy up the garden path.

"You can explain it to him, " Emma said, turning to great their son, and her father.

 

"Ten minutes," Rush said as the portal disappeared. "Wishing you went with?"

"Never," Mandi said, giving him a quick kiss. "What about those two?"

"Leave them. Nothing particularly strange about them being in Observation. Come on, let's get that vent cover off."

 

Lieutenant Scott came back to consciousness on the floor of the Gate room. Next to him was Sergeant Greer. "Hey, Greer, what happened?"

The big marine lifted his head off the deck and shook it, before deciding that wasn't a good idea. "Don't know, man. What..."

"This is Colonel Young, is everyone okay, what happened?" the radio blared.

"Owwwww." A sound came from the other side of the gate room. The two soldiers dragged themselves off the deck.

"Greer, what's..." They went behind the console. There, on the floor next to an open panel, Doctor Rush and Doctor Perry were shaking themselves awake. "Rush, Mandi, what happened?" he asked, holding out a hand to pull the petite scientist up.

"Problem in the oxygen scrubbers ratio was off. It's sorted now. Mandi and I got it fixed but it took a little time for the system to reset." He grabbed his radio off the floor. "Eli, this is Rush, what's going on?"

"Looks like we weren't out but about ten minutes, fifteen, max. We're in FTL. No injuries here. You and Mandi?"

"Good, everything is fine. Have you seen Belle?" the scientist asked.

"Belle? Whose that, are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

"Maybe, am a little muzzy, I mean Park. Where is Park?"

"She's here," Eli said. "Rush, maybe you had better go..."

"Think I had best go back to my quarters. Mandi too. We were the closest to the problem."

"Rush, this is Young. When you've had your rest, I'll expect a full report."

"Aye, Colonel. When I've done." He smiled at Mandi, and the two of them turned and left. "You think there's something going on there?" Greer asked, as he watched them leave. "Who, Mandi and Rush? Could be, I don't know. Come on, let's make sure everyone's all right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, folks, I'm afraid that we have reached all but the clean up. Please do those things that you do.


	78. Epilogue--The final pieces

 

 

Rumplestiltskin sat at his kitchen table, his chipped cup full of tea, and wondered exactly how this had happened. By the time Henry had hugged his parents, and his grandparents (he had decided Belle was his grandmother about the time they had married, and she didn't mind, certainly she was more worthy of the name than Bae's mother), David had called Regina, Snow, and Grace's foster parents. All of them had descended upon the pink house almost immediately.

Bae had taken him aside for a brief explanation of the thing ('Rush had an accident.  It us a couple of days to realise it was moving though. It's shy.'), before rushing off to gather his things. When he had returned, it was to grab David,, Henry, Jefferson, and the newly arrived Grace, who was not only glad to see her father, but had thoughtfully already done his packing for the camp out.

"I should be going," Mary said, bringing him out of his musing. "I've really only been staying around to make certain Mandi was all right."

"Not at all, besides, it's not as if we don't have the room," Belle said, looking at her husband.

"I wouldn't want to impose," the former companion said.

"Ehhh? Nonsense, no imposition. You should stay at least 'til morning," Rumplestiltskin said with uncharacteristic generosity. Of course, it was only because of Doctor Perry that he had been able to get his Belle back.

"Exactly, you're fine here," Belle told her.

"I will admit, it is a long drive," the woman said slowly. "I suppose..."

"Sure. You can come out with me tonight," Emma volunteered. "I promised Ruby dinner and details, especially with Bae camping. I can answer all your questions, and Ruby will probably ask all the ones you don't think of. She is a loss to the intelligence community. She can get anything out of anyone. Mom? What about you?" It was a measure of exactly how many insecurities had been brought up by their journey. She rarely called Snow 'Mom.'

"That would be nice. I've got nothing, not with David out in the woods. He was really glad that Bae still wanted him. Honestly, I think he is as excited as the kids. What about you, Regina? Robin's with the kids too."

"No, thank you," she said, a little stiffly. Still she smiled. She wasn't particularly social, but it was nice that they had gotten to a place that she was asked. "I'm picking Roland up from John and Katherine's and keeping him tonight. Which reminds me, Rumple, before I go, we need to talk about that little situation that arose while you were gone."

"What situation, you mean my accidental garden pet?" He looked towards the back door. The strange monstrosity, after Henry had greeted him, had run up almost exactly like a dog, if dogs came in purple and had eight legs that seemed jointed at odd places. Still, it sidled up to him as if he was its master. His first instinct, after he got over the shock, was to return it to its unanimated, four legged, white wicker state. Two things stopped him. One, his grandson seemed to have become attached to it (and Belle seemed rather enchanted as well as it scuttled up to her). The second was that Regina was completely appalled by it. Either would have been a good enough reason, together...well, it wasn't hurting anything.

"No, not that, though I was wondering when you were going to fix it."

"Well, dearie, since it's the only one of its kind, I doubt it's necessary. Besides, I wouldn't know whether to call a vet or a carpenter," he said dismissively. Belle was smiling behind her cup, while Emma tried to breathe and drink at the same time, and was busy coughing.

Regina shut her eyes. There was no dealing with him in this mood, and she knew it. Instead, she decided to focus on the other things. "Did Rush happen to mention anything that happened here while you were away? Air Force officer in the mines, witch that came after him with a gun?"

"Hey, Mary, why don't you and my mom head over to the diner. Tell Ruby, I'll be there soon," Emma said quickly. This was probably a conversation that didn't benefit from observers, especially parts of it. The two women took the hint and said their goodbyes.

The moment the door had closed behind them, Belle turned to the two remaining women. "A gun?" she questioned, looking vaguely terrified. Her husband laid a gentle hand on her arm.

"It wouldn't have killed me, love," he reassured her. "Now, what's this about, then? We didn't have a lot of time to talk while on _Destiny_."

"Zelena, name sound familiar?" Regina asked.

Rumplestiltskin's face froze for a moment. "I knew her, yes," he answered cautiously. Then something stirred in his mind. "She was the one that attacked us in the forest. The backlash was...extreme, as you know. She lived?"

"Her magic is broken and her hand...well, Whale says they might be able to save it, though it's still questionable. But she will never us it again. She's in the hospital in restraints," Regina told him.

"And when they are done, we have her on assault on you, or rather Rush, and Mary. She broke in here, and threatened the two of...them. Sorry, I didn't get a chance to tell you," Emma finished. "Honestly, I think we are going to have to do something with her, but I don't know what. We can't keep her here, we haven't got the facilities and well..."

"Sanity was never Zelena's strong suit," Rumplestiltskin told them. "Best tell me everything. Belle, sweetheart..."

"I'll make another pot of tea," she said. It was the only constructive thing she could do.

 

It didn't take long to fill him in on Zelena, not to mention Telford and Maleficent. "I suppose you want me to turn her back," he said, still mulling over everything they told him.

"It would be nice," Emma said. "But I've got to go." The sheriff said her goodbyes, then she too left, emptying the kitchen of all but Rumplestiltskin, Belle, and Regina.  She was pretty certain that the formerly evil queen and the sorcerer had things to say to one another that wouldn't benefit from her presence.

"Rumple, I need to ask you..." Regina began. She had been waiting ever since it happened to ask these questions. A part of her really wanted to beg him to tell her that Zelena had lied.

"You have questions about Zelena, and about your mother." Regina nodded.

"I think I am going to have a bath. There are no bathtubs on the spaceship," Belle said. Like Emma, she knew when she was not needed or wanted. Regina actually gave her a grateful smile as she left them alone. Her love needed to answer some questions, ones that she knew the other woman wasn't entirely sure she wanted to ask, and Rumple had hoped never to answer.

 

General Jack O'Neill was sitting behind his desk at the Pentagon, staring a a pile of paperwork and wishing that something, anything would interrupt him. Who knew that dealing with Telford, and hiding the trail, would generate that much paperwork? Before he could do more than look at the first stack, though, his prayers were answered. There was a hesitant knock on the door.

"Come," he called.

"Sir, there is a gentleman here, asking to see you...He..."

"Who is he, and what does he want?"

"He's an attorney, sir..."

"Patterson, you know I hate lawyers.  Can you tell him..."

"Yes, sir.  But this one, well, you'd better meet him," the officer finished lamely.

O'Neill sighed. Paperwork or lawyer? Neither was bound to improve his day, but the lawyer could potentially make it much longer. "Show him in then," he said.

A moment later, he heard Patterson again, this time accompanied by what sounded like someone with a cane, tapping on the floor. "General O'Neill, I'm Richard Gold," the man said as he entered the room and walked confidently to the desk, offering a hand formally. The general blinked once. _Okay, not boring,_ he thought as he looked at the other man. _Not boring at all_.

 

"Doctor Rush," the radio blared, Young's voice coming in clearly. "I need to see you in my office."

Rush smiled at Mandi. "Showtime, then," he said quietly. She returned the smile, letting her eyes flick to the bracelet on his wrist.

"Be sure to tell him to give everyone my best."

 

"Rush," Young said the moment the door opened. "O'Neill wants a word with the two of us now that communications is restored."

"Is it important? I'm still reviewing the engine footage. We'd like to be ready the start the repairs as soon as possible."

"I'd say yes. Camille and Vanessa James have both been bumped, and believe me, Camille is not happy."

"Perhaps she can go when Doctor Herrick comes for a few days?"

Young looked at Rush for a moment as if he didn't recognise him. Of course, he was getting what he wanted. They had fewer females than males aboard the ship, and if he needed a female scientist for a few days it wasn't as if he would miss Camille, probably the opposite. "Good idea. Meanwhile, O'Neill needs us."

"Very well. Did they tell you what it was all about?" he asked.

"Nope. Meet me in Communications in five."

 

Nicholas Rush took a moment. He had used the stones a fair bit, more times than he actually cared for, to be honest. It always took a few moments to get used to the new body. He looked into the mirror. It could be worse, he thought philosophically. Colonel Giggs was a bit younger than he was, dark hair that curled and a hairline that was receding from both sides. At least it wasn't one of those giant marines.

"Young?" he asked the other man in the room besides the operator.

"Ready?" the colonel responded. He had drawn a slightly pudgy, middle aged scientist that, Rush vaguely remembered was some relation of one of the botanists.

"Am yeah, let's get on with it. I've a lot of work. Surprised neither of us ended in Telford. Thought he slept on this end."

The two men made their way to O'Neill's office, accompanied by a large warrant officer. When they reached it, they were shown in immediately, and the door closed behind them.

"Young?" the General asked.

"Here, sir. Can I ask what's happening? I wasn't due to report..."

"Yeah well, something has come up. Two somethings actually, but only one of them concerns you. The first is an extremely serious breach in security. Two days ago, a man was pulled from a wreck near Boston, by a couple of passing volunteer firefighters from Maine. He was still unconscious when they got him to the hospital. Remember when we were certain that the location of Icarus was leaked to the Lucian Alliance?"

"Yes. But I thought everyone was cleared?"

"Well, it appears not. We did have a mole, a mole with Goa'uld brainwashing. Fortunately for us, or something, the wreck must have been really bad. When he came to, he remembered." Rush was watching, from where he had settled in one of the two guest chairs, but Young was still standing, clearly wishing there was enough room to pace.

"Who?" he asked.

"Everett, you're going to want to sit down," O'Neill said with more kindness than he usually displayed. For a moment the colonel looked like he was going to object, but then he sat down in the other chair. "It's David," he said.

"Colonel Telford? Are you sure?" Rush asked, playing his part. "I mean, I can't say I like the man, he's been nothing but trouble since we got to _Destiny_ , but a traitor? I'd not have thought it of him."

Young looked like he had been punched in the stomach. Stricken. "He confessed," O'Neil continued. "We are still trying to assess the damage. He's agreed to go back under, this time for us. To his credit, the brainwashing is incredibly through, and we've never found a way to prevent it. Meanwhile, he's at Andrews in ICU. Officially, he's in a coma, while we get everything in place. Everett, he wants to see you."

The colonel was quiet for a moment, clearly trying to get his head around it. "I...yeah, I suppose, it's..." O'Neill just nodded.

"Rush, we don't know how much of your research they have. He doesn't think he's the only one. How much have you managed to transcribe into the system here?"

"Not all that much, to be honest. I'm workin' without notes and as you know, I don't come back often. I've no cause."

"I'll need you to go over the computer logs and tell me how bad this actually is."

"All right, General. If that's all then..." the Scotsman started to rise.

"Actually, there is one more thing. Colonel Young, you can go ahead. Patterson has arranged transport."

"Yes, Sir," the colonel said. With a salute and a questioning look at Rush, he left the two men alone.

"So, Doctor Rush. I've been looking at your file. You have no one listed, no family, no emergency contact, nothing."

"No sir, I've got no family, not since my wife passed, but I hardly see how..."

"Mr. Richard Gold, name ring a bell?" he asked.

"Ahhh," Rush said. "Yes."

"That's a yes, you know him? Is that all you've got to say?"

"What is there to say, General? It's not as if he and I have had anything to do with one another."

"But you do know him? I mean, I would hope so, he looks enough like you to have me checking for replicants."

"So people have told me," the scientist said offhandedly. "I don't see it myself. But if the question is are we related, the answer is yes. We've met, once."

"He's your brother?"

"Half. But what has any of this to do with..."

"He's here. He came looking for you. Apparently he managed to trace you down to the cover project, and from there to my command."

"He's good that way. He found me before. But the question is what do you want me to do?"

"What I would like doesn't matter. He's with Peterson from the family liaison office, being read in as your contact," O'Neill told him.

"But General..."

"Look, you may not care, but he managed to track you down this far. It must be important. Besides, don't you want someone to know where you are, and that you are alive?"

"I'll speak to him then, shall I?" Rush asked, cutting the General off.

"Do that. I don't care if you never speak to him again, but I don't need him digging, thinking that we've done something to you. Understand?"

"I do, yes," Rush said, pretending a bitterness that he didn't feel.

"All right then, go, and when you are done with the family reunion, I'll need that analysis. I need to know what the Lucian Alliance is planning and if _Destiny_ figures into it. Now go, have fun with your brother." The general waved him out.

Rush breathed a sigh of relief. That couldn't have gone better. Just one more thing.

 

He was shown to a room where his 'brother' was being kept. "Richard," he said coldly as soon as he entered.

"Nicholas?" the other man questioned.

"Me, yeah. I will assume that Peterson has explained it all?"

"And had me sign more forms than my last lawsuit. Care to explain?"

"Care to tell me why you're here?" Rush asked. He could see a hint of a smile on the familiar face.

"Can we go somewhere? It's family business," he said, looking at Peterson. The officer shrugged.

"You can. Do you want a car or..."

"I'll just take him to the cafe," Rush said. "This won't take long."

 

Once they were settled in the cafe, noisy with a crowd of military personnel, civilian employees, and general staff, the two men smiled. "See you got back safely," Rush told him. "Mandi says to give her best to everyone."

"The same, and Mary would like Mandi to know that she is doing well. Actually, she is considering packing up and moving to Storybrooke. I imagine she will want to talk to her about that at some point. We've no one with her skills, and there are a couple of people who could use the help."

"Mandi would like that, I'm sure. Now that we've done the pleasantries, do you have it?" he asked.

"I do, yes," Rumplestiltskin told him. He pulled out his briefcase, opened it, and handed a folder to Rush. The scientist made a pretense of looking over it. If anyone got curious, it was a family legal issue. The scientist carefully appended his name to a few things, before handing it back. The other man flipped the pages, and then passed what looked like a copy back to Rush. Inside, he could feel the disk, the one that would very shortly go into the system, and erase any mention of Belle, or Storybrooke, or any hint that Amanda Perry had ever been anywhere other than _Destiny_. The final step.

"That looks good then," he said, standing and offering a hand to the other man. They were both still pretending. "Thank you," Nick whispered.

"After you helped Belle, I could do no less. If you need me, I am now officially your only living relative."

"I may take you up on that, if I need to be myself for a conference," Rush said with what would almost seem a smile.

"Goodbye, Rush. I wish you well," Rumplestiltskin said, standing and collecting his briefcase. "One thing, what exactly did you do to my table?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, dear friends, we have reached the end. It has been a long and strange journey and I am glad you took it with me. Just a few things in closing up. I have been asked if there will be another one. The answer is I have an idea. There is at least one or two more short pieces, and the potential of a much longer one based on the Incursion plotline. I have really enjoyed this world and writing in it, and as you see, I have left it open for further exploration. I do take prompts, and would be glad to take them in this Universe. Please leave comments and let me know what you think.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, I swore I wasn't going to do this to myself, but there you go. Thanks to Robin4 for helping out with this. I hope that you enjoy it and like where it's going.


End file.
